


Big Brother Is Watching

by DodgerBear



Category: Merlin (TV) RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-11 10:01:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 43,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17444762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DodgerBear/pseuds/DodgerBear
Summary: Colin experiences love at first sight. Bradley really isn’t going to like it.





	1. Meet Cute

_ June 2008 _

 

"What's got your tail up?" Angel grinned at Bradley as he bounced into his seat beside her at the catering table. 

"The sun is shining, I can finally lift that cardboard sword above my head and make it look convincingly heavy...what's not to be happy about?" Bradley beamed back at his friend. 

"And the real reason?" Colin chipped in from across the table, making Angel and Katie giggle. 

"My sisters are coming to visit this weekend." He supplied with a faint blush. 

Colin smiled warmly at Bradley, who had cemented his best mate status after only a few weeks of filming in Cardiff. Now they were in northern France and they were inseparable. Colin knew Bradley would never admit aloud the fact that he suffered with homesickness but it was something he understood. Some days he pined for his Irish homeland to the point where he could cry. 

Angel clapped with excitement. "Brilliant! What are they like?"

"Amazing." Bradley replied quickly. "My partners in crime. Amelia is 21 and she's just graduating from uni. She's going to work for a marketing company in London from September. Lucy is nearly 18. She's great. Total brainbox."

"She still at school?" Angel asked. 

"She did her last A-Level last week. She's off all summer...until she starts university."

"Where is she going?" Katie passed Colin her salad, which he accepted gratefully. 

Bradley shrugged. "Don't know yet. She's got offers to study law from Keele, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Durham."

"Wow." Colin grinned. "Good options."

Bradley nodded with a smile. "She's going places."

Alex joined the conversation with a wicked smirk. "But let's hear more about your 21 year old sister..."

Everyone started to laugh except Bradley. 

"Oh no!" He glared. "My sisters are off limits. I mean it. Off. Limits."

The laughter continued and Bradley began to describe in technicolour detail the death that would befall whoever messed around with his sisters. 

 

Colin yawned and scratched his head irritably as he queued at the shop. He was exhausted after filming for 15 hours and now he wanted nothing more than to buy enough chocolate to kill ten diabetics and retire to his hotel room for the night. The lady at the counter began to serve him and he handed over a note. She frowned and garbled a load of French at him, which he responded to with a pitiful look of confusion. A soft voice chuckled beside him and he glanced back with even more irritation than he started out feeling. 

"She says she has no change and do you have anything smaller?" A petite girl with golden hair and bright blue eyes told him with a smile. 

"Oh...uh...thanks...uh..." Colin stammered and turned back to the lady. "Sorry...no..."

The lady huffed and went to call for someone, presumably to bring change, when the girl waved her hand and spoke in rapid, fluent French. The lady smiled warmly at her and began to scan her items. 

"Uh...what...?" Colin frowned, as she took control and packed his sweets into a bag and handed it to him, before filling a bag with her own items. She paid the lady for everything before tilting her head towards the door. 

"Come on...we're holding up the line." She flashed him a smile. 

Colin followed her out of the shop and into the warm early evening sun. "You didn't need to do that."

She shrugged casually. "It's only chocolate. Not about to bankrupt me."

"Well...thanks...how can I pay you back?"

Another musical giggle escaped her and she shook her head. "Forget about it."

"No really..."

"How about you tell me why you're buying enough chocolate to see me through a year of lady problems and call it even?" She teased. 

Colin couldn't help the laughter that escaped him. "Lady problems? Really?"

"Yeah...chocolate fixes everything. Stomach cramps, bad moods, the urge to cry and kill someone at the same time..."

"Wow! Every day is a school day." Colin laughed happily. "I've had a long week. I'm treating myself."

"To tooth decay? How generous you are."

He pretended to bow. "I know. How about I share my chocolate with you...thus paying you back some and also avoiding an emergency trip to a French dentist that I won't understand until he pulls out all of my healthy teeth?"

She nodded seriously. "It's the least we can do for each other. I'd hate to have your toothless smile on my conscience..."

"And hate to leave you short of cash that may be needed to prevent tears and murder..."

"That's settled then. Should we get a coffee to go with our chocolate sharing?" She smiled, pointing to a little coffee shop across the cobbled square. 

Colin hesitated, although he wasn't sure why. He had thoroughly enjoyed the last ten minutes. The girl in front of him was gorgeous. Younger than him, but probably not by much, with loosely tied hair and a fresh face. He didn't struggle to attract the attentions of the opposite sex but it didn't make him any more confident when it did happen. She smiled wistfully, interpreting his hesitation as rejection. 

"Unless you've got somewhere to be..."

He shook his head firmly. "Not at all. Coffee sounds great. I'm Colin, by the way."

"Lucy. Nice to meet you." She beamed and led the way to the coffee shop. 

 

The next hour was one of the fastest and most bizarre of Colin's life. Lucy chatted constantly, about nothing in particular, and he bounced off her in a way he'd never experienced before. And she was fucking gorgeous. He'd never been particularly attracted to girls with piercings and tattoos but this one he would definitely make an exception for. Her nose had a tiny sparkling stud and both ears sported several silver piercings. She had a tattoo on her collarbone of a Latin phrase 'Victoria Concordia Crescit' and a tiny butterfly on her wrist. It was very sexy. Aside from her physical beauty she was so funny. She made him laugh like a lunatic and he found he was craving the sight of her smile. When she glanced at her watch an hour after sitting down and gasped Colin was bitterly disappointed. 

"I'm sorry Colin. I've got to go. Family dinner." She apologised and grabbed her bags. 

"Oh...no problem..." He stood up when she did and tried to gauge if he should ask for her number. 

"Same time and place tomorrow?" She grinned. 

He relaxed into a broad smile. "Love to."

With a breezy peck to his cheek she was gone, dashing down the lane away from him. 

 

"Hey Colin." Angel waved as she left the hotel bar and joined him by the lift doors. "You look happy." She noted. 

He smiled shyly. "I've had a weird evening."

Angel glanced at her watch and saw it was 7:10pm. "And the night is still young..."

"Yeah."

"So tell me...what is weird's name?" Angel smirked and sashayed into the lift when it arrived. 

Colin followed with his mouth agape. "Huh?"

"Oh come on love. Only a close encounter with the female kind could put that look on your face." Angel teased. 

Colin felt his cheeks flush. "I just had coffee with a girl. She was nice."

"Lovely. Seeing her again?"

Colin mock-glared at his friend's mischievous expression. "Maybe."

"I'll leave you alone for now. But I want details Morgan. Lots of details."

"Yes milady." He chuckled and exited the lift on his floor. 

Colin threw himself on his bed, rethinking the whole encounter. He was too wired on caffeine now to sleep so he had a hot shower and a satisfying wank before crashing in front of his tv. 

 

Colin spent the majority of the following day filming with Richard in the castle while the rest of his cast mates filmed outside in the glorious sunshine. He was excited for his coffee date with Lucy and raced through his scenes with pace and professionalism. When he was finished for the day he only had an hour to take a shower and make it to the coffee shop. He was running behind when he jogged towards the shop but slowed down when he spotted Lucy waving. 

"I'm really sorry...my brother and sister have turned up...they're inside getting served. Make a run for it while you can." She grimaced. 

"Why? Are they scary?" Colin joked. 

Lucy rolled her eyes. "My brother thinks he's my dad sometimes..."

Colin was about to speak and offer to rearrange their date when a familiar voice boomed across the square. 

"Colin! What are you doing here?"

Colin looked up and saw Bradley walking towards them with a tray of drinks. He stopped next to Lucy and put the tray on the table. Forgetting he'd asked a question Bradley continued excitedly. 

"This is great. You can meet my sisters! This is Amelia and Lucy...guys this is Colin. He plays Merlin." Bradley introduced. 

Colin felt the bottom of his stomach fall out when he realised he was on a date with Bradley's little sister. His littlest sister in fact. His not-yet-eighteen year old sister. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. How had they spent all of that time chatting and not discover these details? He quickly caught himself and smiled brightly. 

"Great to meet you!"

Lucy looked like she was painting her smile on her face too as she greeted him politely. Amelia gave him an appraising look and settled on a polite smile. 

"Sit down. I'll grab you a coffee!" Bradley told him and wandered off. Amelia excused herself to go to the loo, leaving Lucy and Colin alone. 

"You're Bradley's friend?"

"You're Bradley's sister?" 

They hissed their words at the same time. Lucy shook her head in disbelief. "Fucking brilliant...meet a nice, cute bloke and my brother ruins it for me just by existing."

Colin snorted a laugh. "Cute?"

"Oh shut up. What does it matter now? He's pissed all over any chance we had of getting to know each other better." She sighed. 

"Might've been an idea to get to know you better yesterday...like the fact you're my best mate's 17 year old sister." Colin muttered. 

"Likewise." She retorted. "For fucks sake."

Colin sighed heavily, his disappointment seeping through. "Well it was nice while it lasted."

"Yeah..."

"Seventeen though...you seem older..."

"Thanks. I'll be asking for a refund on the anti-wrinkle cream." She joked. 

"You seem older, you don't look older."

She grinned. "How old are you? Please don't say 40..."

"Ha ha. Funny. I'm 22." Colin rolled his eyes. 

"Hmm...not bad. I thought I fancied an old man for a moment there." She chuckled. 

Colin choked on a cough, stunned by her blasé attitude to her feelings for him. The tortured Catholic in him felt horrifically guilty for having a hot shower wank thinking about this girl while she was so open about the fact that she fancied him. 

"Don't girls tell you they fancy you all the time?" She smirked. 

"Not so much actually." He replied with a shrug. 

"Strange."

Their flirty banter was stopped in its tracks by Bradley emerging with a coffee for Colin, quickly followed by Amelia returning too. 

If the day before had passed in the blink of an eye for Colin, today was the polar opposite. He spent the entire time on edge, scared to give away that he knew Lucy to Bradley and yet unable to stop gazing at her across the table. It was purgatory. Finally Bradley called an end to the torture by announcing it was time to head to the hotel for their dinner reservations. They all walked back together and Bradley finally remembered what he'd asked Colin. 

"Where were you off to then Cols?"

Colin just smiled enigmatically. "I was meant to be meeting a girl for a drink but she didn't show."

"Bugger." Bradley frowned. "Was she fit?"

"Beautiful." Colin replied. "Really beautiful."

"She's a fool for standing you up mate."

Colin laughed lightly, noticing Lucy's slight blush at his description of her. "Thanks Bradley. Enjoy your dinner. It was nice to meet you." He waved as they reached the foyer. 

"Come and join us mate..." Bradley offered. 

Colin shook his head and smiled politely. "Can't mate, thanks. Got to ring home for their weekly update on Colin Isn't Dead Yet."

They parted and he caught Lucy's eye before he turned away. He winked and smiled ruefully as she walked away from him. 

 

The whole team had a day off and Colin spent his with Angel and Katie wandering around a large open market. Angel was trying to prise details of his date out of him. 

"Come on...tell me more!"

Colin shook his head resolutely. "Just forget it. Nothing is happening."

"You seemed to really like her..." Angel pouted. 

"I did. For the hour that I spent with her I did really like her. But I'm not seeing her again so we can forget it."

Angel huffed. "You're ridiculous."

"Who is ridiculous?"

Colin reeled around at the sound of Bradley's voice. As far as he knew Bradley was spending the day with his sisters. 

"Bradley!" Katie hugged the blond. 

Colin caught a glimpse of Amelia behind Bradley and knew it was only going to be a second before he spotted Lucy. 

"Hi Amelia." He greeted politely and she smiled softly. "No Lucy?"

Bradley rolled his eyes. "No. She's still in bed. Honestly...I thought I was a terrible morning person but she just takes the piss."

Colin tried. He really, honest to God, he really tried. But his impure, dirty mind drifted to the girl of his current dreams lying in bed and willing him to join her. It was physical torture. 

"You ok Cols?" Bradley frowned. 

Colin smiled weakly. "Headache."

"You should get some rest before our night out..."

Colin paused for a millisecond as he tried to recall what their night out entailed. It came back to him immediately. They were going into the next village which had several trendy bars. He nodded sagely. 

"Maybe I'll head back for a nap before we go..." He said casually. 

Bradley nodded his blond head. "I need you on top form tonight Cols."

"Oh?"

Bradley leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Once you've been out with my sisters you'll understand. I need help keeping the male population of scum bags away from them."

Colin laughed softly. "Don't you think you're being a little overprotective? I'm sure they can handle themselves..."

Bradley narrowed his eyes. "No Colin. I need you on my side."

"Fine, fine." He waved in agreement. "I'm heading back. Give me a call later when you know some plans."

He said goodbye to the girls and walked back to the hotel. 

 

"Colin!" A voice drifted through the air as he walked slowly up the gravel path to the hotel. He looked up and saw Lucy on her balcony, quickly working out she was on the south facing third floor, the same floor as his room but the opposite corridor. He smiled and waved back, his mouth going dry when he got closer and could make out her every curve in her sleep shorts and vest top. Her hair was down to her shoulders and dishevelled from sleep. 

"How about that coffee now?" She called down. 

"Sure." He agreed easily. 

"Great. Room 319. I'll call room service." She grinned and ducked back into her room. 

 

So that's how Colin found himself in Lucy's room, sitting on her bed and sipping coffee while she sat cross-legged opposite him. They talked about the night ahead and Bradley's tendency to play the father figure. 

"He pisses me off sometimes but in a way it's nice I suppose..." Lucy sighed and drained her cup before placing it on the side table. 

"He wants me to be on scum bag duty when we're out tonight." Colin confessed with a wry smile. 

"What now?"

"Keep the scum bags away from you and Amelia."

Lucy groaned and flopped back on the bed, her top riding up and flashing a strip on skin on her stomach. "You'll just have to stick with me all night."

"I can think of worse things." Colin grinned. 

Lucy got to her feet and opened the drapes to let in more air. Colin stood up and set his cup next to Lucy's. 

"Well I should be going..." 

"Oh?" Lucy sounded disappointed. 

The room was suddenly boiling hot as Lucy stood directly in front of Colin. He towered over her by at least eight inches. She smiled up at him and reached up to peck him on his cheek. Both changed their minds as soon as the action started and ended up moving slowly in for a kiss. Their lips touched and Lucy had to grip Colin's shoulders for balance as she leaned in on her tiptoes. Colin pulled her into his arms as he deepened the kiss, taking her slight weight and opening her up to his tongue. She sighed softly into his mouth and kissed him with the same intensity he had started. His hands found their way into her hair and the texture was like golden silk. He stroked her neck with his long fingers and pressed his body closer to hers. 

"LUCY! WAKE UP!" A loud voice came from the door beside them. 

They flew apart, gasping for breath as they each dealt with the intensity of the kiss and the presence of Bradley on the other side of the door. 

"Come on! You're wasting the day!" He banged a fist against the door. 

"Go away Bradley. I'm getting dressed." Lucy yelled in frustration. 

Colin anxiously ran a hand through his mussed up hair and tried to remain silent. 

"I'm going for a drink in the bar with Angel. Meet me there in half an hour." Bradley called back. 

They waited until his footsteps led away from the room and both almost collapsed with relief. 

"That was close." She sighed. 

"This is ridiculous. You're only seventeen. Bradley is my best friend. I shouldn't be messing around with his little sister..." Colin rambled, mostly to himself and stopped when he saw Lucy glaring at him. 

"Fuck you." She muttered and opened the hotel room door. 

Colin stared at her. "I'm sorry. That didn't sound how I meant it to sound..."

"So you weren't going for patronising and disrespectful?" She arched a brow and tilted her head to the door. "Go on. Let's forget this ever happened. Run back to Bradley and plan how you are going to ruin my night out."

Colin sighed and stepped closer to Lucy. "Please Lucy...I didn't mean..." 

Lucy cut him off with a dismissive wave. "It doesn't matter Colin. I'm never going to get Bradley to back off and you're never going to betray the bro code shit. So just go."

His jaw was hanging open as he stepped into the hallway and watched as Lucy slammed the door closed. He couldn't move at first. Standing rigidly staring at the closed door he could've kicked himself for being so fucking stupid. Why a massive hole couldn't open up in the floor and swallow him for being so insensitive was beyond him. How was the seventeen year old so much more mature? With a depressed sigh he trudged back to his room and tried to think of anything but Lucy's soft lips pressed against his mouth. 

 

"Watch what she's drinking ok?" Bradley told Amelia sternly. "She's still underage."

The elder sister rolled her eyes at her brother. "She's 18 in five weeks. And she's not as innocent as you'd like to think Bradley. Just let her have fun."

Colin averted his eyes from the bickering siblings and tried to find Lucy on the dance floor. The bar was packed with people their age, owing to the fact it was the only nightclub in a 30 mile radius. Lucy barely spoke to Colin, making friends with Katie and Angel instead and dancing with them for ages. She looked amazing in a little black dress and red shoes. Amelia was beautiful too, and Alex had predictably taken a shine to her. 

"Colin! Come dance with us!" Angel dragged him by the hand into the throng of sweaty dancers. He grinned when Angel did a pretend grind on him before twirling away to catch up with Katie, who was a little further into the crowd and looking pretty hammered. Colin gravitated to where Lucy was dancing in her own little world and gently placed a hand on her hip. She turned to face him and her expression soured. 

"What?"

He smiled shyly and leaned into her so she would hear him over the pounding dance music. "I wanted to say sorry. I was a dick earlier."

She nodded. "A bit, yeah."

"I'm really sorry."

"Alright." She shrugged. 

The dance floor got even more crowded and they were pressed closer, Lucy's back against Colin's front. His fingers gripped her hip and held her steady as she swayed to the music. Almost involuntarily, his head bent and he pressed his lips to the exposed skin on the back of her neck. His teeth grazed gently and she pushed back on him. 

"Dangerous Colin...very dangerous..." Lucy tilted her head to speak to him. 

"That's my middle name." He joked. 

Lucy snorted. "Really."

"Nah. Don't have one." He pressed his lips to her skin again. 

"Col...you shouldn't...someone might see."

"I don't care."

"I'm still Bradley's seventeen year old sister."

"Ok...I'm trying not to care."

She chuckled and he felt her body vibrate against his, making his cock twitch. She turned in his arms and looked up at him. 

"I'm not going to be the cause of any issues with you and Bradley. You're his best friend for one thing, and you have to work together for another. But I like you..." She told him with a sigh. 

Colin was again struck by her maturity and ability to just articulate her feelings. 

"I like you too." He smiled. 

"So if anything happens between us I want it to stay between us. And none of that shit you gave me earlier where you basically called me a kid. Alright?"

Colin nodded dumbly and smiled crookedly. 

"So we're a secret?" 

Lucy rolled her eyes. "We've had three coffees, one kiss and a slightly dirty dance. Easy tiger."

Colin threw his head back and laughed. Her quirky sense of humour completely captivated him. 

"I'm going to dance with the girls. Talk to you later." She winked and headed back into the crowd away from Colin. 

 

Bradley was chatting up a pretty redhead at the bar when Colin returned, completely oblivious to what had transpired on the dance floor. He was also completely oblivious to Amelia snogging Alex in a dark corner, so he didn't point that out either. 

"I'm heading back soon mate. Still got a headache." He told Bradley. 

Bradley frowned. "You alright?"

Colin nodded. "Think I need my eyes tested. I'll be fine. You staying out?"

Bradley grinned at the girl he was chatting to before turning back to Colin. "Yeah."

"Cool..."

The girls appeared beside them and Bradley checked Lucy out. She didn't look drunk but her cheeks were flushed from dancing in the crowd. 

"Your sister gets some serious attention from the fellas Bradley." Katie teased. 

Colin's heart thumped in his chest. 

Angel laughed heartily. "Does nothing for our confidence bringing a hot young thing like Lucy out for the night..."

Bradley scowled. "Stop winding me up."

Lucy laughed musically and reached for his glass of rum and coke. 

"Hey!" He grabbed for it as she took a sip. With a teasing smirk she handed it back. 

"I'm going to get a cab back to the hotel now." She told him. "I'm clearly not drinking any more and this music is doing my head in."

Bradley grasped Colin's sleeve. "Are you still going back?"

Colin nodded. "Yeah..."

"Great. You can go with Lucy. Make sure she gets back ok."

Lucy rolled her blue eyes at her brother. "Going to ask him to tuck me in and read me a story too?"

Katie laughed raucously and hugged Lucy. "I really don't want you to go home."

Bradley flicked her nose. "Mum would kill me if I let anything happen to you while you're visiting me. Just humour me, ok?"

"Fine. Ready when you are Colin." Lucy sighed. "Just going to say goodnight to Amelia...if she's finished devouring poor Alex..."

"Ok...WHAT?" Bradley shrieked. 

Lucy sauntered off in the direction of her elder sister leaving Bradley foaming at the mouth. 

"She's wicked." Katie giggled. 

"She's hilarious." Angel added. 

Bradley snorted. "She's too fucking smart for her own good."

Colin silently agreed with all three. 

 

"Well this worked out well..." Colin remarked as the cab dropped them at their hotel and they darted for the empty lift. 

Lucy grinned. "Opportunity to take advantage of my brother's overprotective streak was too much for me."

Colin pressed her against the wall of the lift and kissed her softly. Her fingers reached into his hair and grazed his scalp until he groaned and pulled back. 

"This feels so wrong but so good."

Lucy smiled wickedly. "Good enough for me. Your room or mine?"

Colin's eyes widened but he followed Lucy to her room when the lift doors opened. She quickly took out her phone and typed a text to Bradley. 

"Back at hotel, safe and sound. Going to sleep now. Do NOT wake me up!! I want a lie in tomorrow. Be safe. Love you 😘."

She tossed her phone on the side table and turned back to Colin, who was leaning against the back of the door watching Lucy in a daze. 

"Can you unzip me?" She asked quietly. 

Colin moved to her and carefully pulled on the zip at the nape of her neck until the black dress fell away and pooled on the floor at her now bare feet. She was left standing in front of Colin wearing only a set of matching black lace lingerie. 

"Wow." He exhaled, running his hands across her collarbones and pressing a kiss to her shoulder. "Beautiful."

She turned in his arms and pulled him down into a deep kiss. He licked into her mouth, tongues dancing and teeth nibbling. Colin felt his cock harden until it pressed against his jeans uncomfortably. Lucy's hands moved to his belt and helped him relieve the pressure by removing the offending items. 

"Gnunggh." He exhaled harshly when her hand pushed into his boxers and circled his rock hard erection. 

Lucy giggled into his bare chest. "Articulate."

He moved them swiftly so they were on her bed and he was cradled between her thighs. 

"We're not going too fast for you...?" He spoke gently. 

Lucy stroked his face and kissed his nose. "I'm fine Colin. Do you need reassurance that I'm not a blushing virgin?"

"Stop teasing me. I'm only trying to be nice." He stuck his tongue out at her. "But you're not, are you? A virgin. Blushing or otherwise."

Lucy giggled. "No Col. I'm not. I mean...I don't make a habit of this but I had a boyfriend for most of last year and well...I'm not. So that's that."

Colin kissed her again and things heated up pretty quickly. He pressed soft kisses down her body until his mouth reached the place she really needed him to be. Her last boyfriend, Brian, did this once and she loved it. He said he hated it and never did it again. Colin, however, was a lot more enthusiastic and a lot more talented. 

"Fuck!" She gasped and grabbed his hair, making him flick his tongue against her clit even harder. She moved her hips so she pushed against him. "Oh my god. I can't wait to suck your cock."

Colin nearly came there and then. Lucy's dirty talk was killing his control. 

"We need to be naked. Now." He told her and abruptly rearranged them so they were completely naked and settled in a comfortable 69 position. Lucy's mouth wrapped around the head of his cock and she sucked him, tongue flicking at the tip. He buried his face in her until his tongue was fucking into her and she was moaning desperately. 

"I'm going to come." She warned, with his cock still between her lips. 

"Come on my face Lucy." He told her. 

She removed him from her mouth and rocked her hips against his tongue until she exploded with ecstasy. Colin continued to lick her through the best orgasm of her life. 

"That was incredible." She gasped. 

"God yes. I love how you taste." He mumbled. 

"Do you want to fuck me?" She asked him. 

"More than I want my next breath." He replied honestly. 

"I'm on the pill...do you want to use a condom too?"

"I don't have one."

"Not a Boy Scout huh?"

Colin laughed. "Not quite. You're covered?"

"Yep. I trust you if you tell me you're clean."

"100%." He nodded. 

"Go for it." She grinned. 

Colin moved swiftly and lined up to enter her. He gazed down and smiled sweetly at the beautiful girl below him. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks flushed. The light caught her tiny nose stud and sparkled. Colin bent his head to kiss her tenderly and pushed into her. She was tight. Hot. Wet. But mostly very tight. 

"God! Fuck!" He gritted his teeth. 

Lucy arched her back and moved with him, finding his rhythm and matching it. "Woah Colin...that feels so good..."

"You feel amazing. Jesus..." 

Colin felt like every nerve in his body was being stimulated. He'd never experienced sex like this before. Lucy was fully immersed and making him shudder with excitement. 

"I'm close Colin...please don't stop..." Lucy begged. 

Colin bit down on her neck and sucked the skin until he knew he'd left a bruise. His right hand slid between their sweating bodies and rubbed her clit. Her voice got higher in pitch until she clutched Colin's biceps tightly. 

"Now...Colin...oh...ungh!" She came hard, wrapping herself around his lithe body and shuddering wildly. Her clenching walls did nothing to slow down his release and he came with a deep grunt, his body going rigid as he filled her with his come. 

They stopped moving and just lay still, trying to breathe normally and get their heart rate back to a healthy level. 

"Fuck Lucy...that was incredible..." Colin sighed, pressing a kiss to her shoulder before moving off her and flopping onto the bed. 

Lucy curled up to his side and kissed his ribcage. "Amazing."

Colin stroked her hair tenderly. "You go home tomorrow?"

"Yes. I leave for the Eurostar at 3."

"I have work at 11." He told her. "Can I stay until then?"

Lucy smiled sleepily. "Sure. Just going to freshen up."

 

Lucy slipped back into bed next to Colin and he pulled her into his side. 

"No regrets about defiling your best friend's teenage sister?"

"Please don't ever say those words in that order ever again. Please." Colin replied. 

Lucy giggled softly. "Ok. Goodnight."

Colin pressed a kiss to her temple. "I could never regret this. Goodnight."

 

Colin filmed his scenes with Bradley the next day channeling his true acting potential. He had to act like he hadn't spent the night with his little sister, overcoming the guilt he felt for choosing his desires over Bradley's wishes. He also had to overcome the surprising feeling in the pit of his stomach when he thought about leaving Lucy in bed that morning knowing she would be gone when he finished work, back to England and a life that he wasn't part of and not knowing if he would see her again. They'd exchanged numbers but both knew that any kind of relationship was going to be almost impossible. They woke early and lay in the darkness talking about their futures, Colin's plans for his career and Lucy's plans for university. They didn't overlap in any foreseeable way. Colin kissed her goodbye as he crept out of her hotel room with a request that she kept in touch. She smiled softly and kissed him one last time before closing the door and leaving Colin with a feeling of loss that he wasn't expecting after only a couple of days with Lucy. His acting skills must have been on fine form as Bradley didn't notice he was pretending to be normal. They wrapped for the day and got dinner together. 

"Wanna run lines in my room?" Bradley asked as they headed back to their floor. 

"Sure."

They settled on the chairs and opened their scripts to the pages for their next scenes but didn't even get started before Bradley got a text that made him smile. 

"The pretty redhead?" Colin grinned. 

Bradley laughed. "No. My mum. Telling me the girls are back safe and asking if they behaved..."

Colin glanced down at his script rather than meet Bradley's eyes. "They were fine right?"

"Apart from Amelia snogging my co-star in a dingy French nightclub..." Bradley growled. 

"Come on...they're both adults...just a bit of fun." Colin mediated. 

Bradley sighed. "I know. At least it wasn't Lucy. She's too bright to make stupid mistakes in dingy French nightclubs."

Colin raised an eyebrow. "Snogging a bloke isn't exactly a life changer Bradley."

"No. It's what comes after that I'm worried about."

"How come you're so protective? Not that it's a bad thing...but you seem to take it to the extreme sometimes."

Bradley sighed loudly. "Our dad isn't around much. I got into the habit of looking out for them when we were younger and it stuck."

"But you're allowed to snog randoms in clubs..." Colin smirked. 

Bradley had the decency to blush. "If you had sisters you'd understand."

Colin just laughed and shook his head. 

"Nobody is good enough for them. I know what was on my mind when I was a teenager and I'm not letting anyone like that near them." Bradley added. 

"Wouldn't you be pleased if they met someone decent and you knew they were settled?" Colin attempted to sway his friend. 

"Maybe. When they're 30."

 

Colin checked his phone before he got into bed that night and smiled widely when he saw he had a message from "Luisa." Being very sensible, Lucy had designated them code names so they could text without too much suspicion. Colin, or "Carl", read his message eagerly. 

"Hi C, back home now. Hope you're not missing me too much 😉 Had a great time. Lx."

He tapped a quick replied. 

"Glad you're back safe. Wish you could've been here a little longer. Keep in touch x"

 

Angel was easily the most perceptive person Colin had ever met in his life. She was a little older than the rest of the group but hadn't fallen into the role of Group Mother. She was a brilliant listener and heard everyone's problems but didn't lecture or believe she always knew best. Within a week of Lucy's departure she approached Colin gently as he ate lunch in the catering tent. 

"You ok?" She asked softly as she sat down opposite him. 

Colin looked up from his box of salad and smiled. "Yeah..."

"You don't seem yourself. Is something bothering you?" She pushed ever so gently. 

His smile faltered but he shook his head. "I'm alright. Promise."

"Is it the girl?"

"Girl?" Colin's heart stuttered. 

Angel smiled sweetly. "The girl you met the other week...you never did tell me her name..."

"Luisa." Colin smiled wistfully. 

"Did something happen?"

He shook his head. "Just someone I met in the village. She was on holiday with her family. We got on really well...I thought anyway...then she didn't turn up for our date. And now she'll be back home. So...that's that really."

Angel clicked her tongue sadly. "I'm sorry Colin. You seemed to really like her."

"I did. She was fun. But it wasn't to be." He shrugged and popped a cherry tomato into his mouth. 

"You should go out with Bradley...I'm sure he'd love to share his pulling techniques with you." She joked. 

Colin snorted a laugh. "I'm alright thanks."


	2. Little White Lies

_ September 2008 _

 

The Merlin gang hadn't seen each other since the wrap party at the end of July. Now it was time for the first episode to air and the majority of the main group had gathered at Bradley's flat in London for a 'launch party' of sorts. Colin arrived a little later than everyone else with a couple of packs of beer. He settled on the floor in front of the tv with Angel behind him on the sofa playing with his slightly longer than usual hair. He'd grown it out and let his stubble grow since the summer after leaving Merlin behind for a while. Bradley was next to him, Katie curled up in the large chair and Alex stretched out on the sofa with his feet in Angel's lap. The show started at 6 and they all watched it with varying degrees of concentration. Bradley repeatedly fell apart laughing as he remembered various funny moments from the filming of the scenes being shown. Colin was taking it all in quietly, as was his way. Angel kept squeaking excitedly and lamenting on how amazing it was that their little gang had made it onto Saturday night prime time tv. When it was over Bradley switched off the tv and announced it was time to party. 

 

"Are you drunk?" Colin asked Bradley much later when he was slumped against the kitchen bench with his head down. 

Bradley sighed. "A little. I'm going to get some fresh air..."

He opened the back door and gasped when a figure appeared. 

"Lucy! What are you doing here?"

She hugged her brother tightly. "I was at a friend's house nearby and we just watched Merlin. I had to come and give you a hug. You're amazing!"

Bradley laughed softly. "Thanks sis. We've had a party to celebrate. You staying for a bit?"

"Yeah I can do. I was heading home anyway."

Colin had frozen at the sound of her voice and when she entered the kitchen his lungs began to ache for the air he had stopped taking in. Her face lit up when she saw him. 

"Colin! How are you?" She hugged him warmly. "You were brilliant too!"

He patted her back in a friendly, detached manner as Bradley stood in the doorway grinning stupidly at them. 

"I'm good. Glad the first show is out there."

Bradley looked like he was about to slide down the door and shook himself out of his sleepiness. "Back in five."

He closed the door behind him, leaving Colin and Lucy alone in his kitchen. 

"Hey." She smiled coyly. 

Colin blushed slightly. "Hey."

They hadn't seen each other in three months but they'd stayed in touch and he knew that Lucy had turned 18, aced her A-Levels and got a place at the University of Westminster studying law. She'd moved to the capital a few weeks earlier and they'd messaged each other back and forth regularly as Colin gave her tips, as a fellow vegetarian, on the best restaurants and where to avoid. 

Colin waited to see how Lucy responded to him. Displaying feelings and emotions didn't come as easy to him in his private life as it did in his professional life. Lucy seemed to have no trouble with such matters. She breezed through life just saying things like she saw them. Their texts were frequent, always friendly and often flirty, and Lucy didn't hesitate to let him know that she fancied him. She was just so open. 

"Many people here?" She asked, craning her neck to look through the door into the hallway. 

"A few. Bradley's mates from football turned up a while ago..."

"He's totally fucked." She nodded towards the back door. 

"He was totally fucked an hour ago." Colin joked. 

Lucy stepped closer to him and looked up at his smiling face. "Gonna kiss me?"

"Risky..." He grinned, lowering his face. 

"My middle name."

"Really?" Colin laughed. 

"Nah. It's Victoria. Just kiss me before someone walks in." She grinned. 

Colin cupped her face with his right hand and pressed his lips to hers firmly. She leaned into him and kissed him back. A loud laugh from the other room forced them apart and Lucy stepped back. They just gazed at each other silently, feeling the sparks between them. 

"It's good to see you Lucy." He murmured with a shy smile. 

She squeezed his arm. "You too Col."

"Drink?"

"Beer please."

 

The party got louder and wilder when more friends turned up. Every room was filled with drunk people. Lucy mingled with her brother, some of his friends that she'd known for a long time and also spent time chatting with Katie and Angel. She was careful to include Colin but not give too much attention. For his part, he managed to stop himself staring at her across the room like a lovesick puppy. He was sipping a glass of rum when his phone beeped in his pocket. 

_"I hate being so close and not touching you_."

He couldn't hide his grin but waited a few minutes to reply, conscious of people spotting they were both using their phones. 

_"Same. You look beautiful tonight x_."

" * _blushes_ * "

" _Lol_."

" _Didn't realise how much id missed u til I saw u again_."

" _I knew exactly how much I missed u_."

Colin was taken aback by his boldness. She brought out something in him that was either buried very deeply or had never previously existed. 

"What's making you smile like that?" Bradley appeared beside him and glanced at the screen of his phone. 

"Luisa?"

Colin inhaled deeply. It was one thing to betray your best friend by sleeping with his sister but quite another to make up a full web of elaborate lies to cover your arse!

"You're texting Luisa?" Angel overheard and stopped abruptly. 

Colin clicked off his phone and put it away. 

"It's nothing..."

"You know who Luisa is?" Bradley asked Angel. 

"You don't know who she is?" Angel frowned. 

Colin held up his hands. "Can we stop please? It's nothing."

There was a second of silence before Bradley and Angel pretended Colin wasn't there and continued to talk. 

"He met her in France..." Angel told him. 

"Oh really?" Bradley turned to glare at Colin. "News to me."

Colin glared back at him. "Stop it. Stop it now. I'm not doing this. I met a girl, we hit it off, I got her number and we text every now and then. That's it. I don't see her. I'm not seeing her. We're just in touch. End of story."

He stomped away to the kitchen to find more alcohol, leaving Angel and Bradley in stunned silence. 

"What was that?" Bradley gaped. 

Angel sighed. "He liked her a lot. I've never seen him like that before. He had a sparkle in his eyes. I didn't know they were still in contact."

Bradley screwed up his face. "Why didn't he tell me?"

"I think his pride was bruised."

"He's my best mate!"

"He's still a bloke who liked a girl and she stood him up. For whatever reason."

"But they're still in touch?"

Angel shrugged. "He'll tell you when he's ready."

 

Bradley found Colin outside in his back yard with a bottle of rum. 

"Hey."

"You've sobered up." Colin grinned. 

"The famous Bradley James Second Wind."

"Let me fix that for you." He handed over the rum and Bradley took a swig. 

"We did it Cols. We really fucking did it."

They both laughed together, slumping against each other and taking in the enormity of their achievement. 

"You good Cols?"

Colin hesitated, giving real thought to the question. "Yeah. I'm good."

"You didn't tell me there was a girl..."

Colin sighed. "It wasn't a big deal. It's not a big deal. Honestly."

"Angel says you really liked her..."

"Alright. Yeah. I did. I met her in the shop in the village. She was on holiday with her family and she was behind me in the queue. The woman serving me started talking to me in French and I was bloody stumped. Then this girl started to translate for me and I turned around and...fuck...she was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. We got talking, went for a coffee and got on like a house on fire..." Colin told him, closing his eyes and picturing the scene clearly in his mind. 

"We arranged another date and she didn't show up. That's when I saw you. And then she was gone. Back home. And I went back to work." He shrugged. 

"Did she say why she didn't show up?"

"Got caught up with family stuff."

"And now? You're both back in England..."

Colin sighed. "We're going back to Cardiff soon, then back to France. It's not going to happen."

"But you really like her. Angel says she'd never seen you like that before..." Bradley pressed. 

"Angel seems to say a lot of things." Colin huffed. "It is what it is."

Bradley slung his arm around Colin's shoulder. "You know you can always talk to me..."

"I know."

"Good. I'm proud of you Cols. You're an amazing actor."

Colin's gut clenched at the sincerity of his words. He'd spent the full night acting his arse off. 

"Thanks." He choked out weakly. 

Bradley stood up and swayed on the spot. "I need to go to bed."

"Yeah. Probably for the best." Colin laughed. 

"Need to see Lucy. Check she's ok."

"Alright."

 

An hour later the party was finished and the flat was starting to empty. Bradley had crashed out on his bed after checking that Lucy would stay over and not wander the streets of London to get home. Katie, Angel and Alex had left much earlier and normally Colin would've headed home too but he craved being around Lucy for as long as possible. Finally they were the only people left and Lucy tucked Bradley into his bed so he was comfortable. 

"Love you sis." He mumbled. 

She kissed his forehead. "Love you too."

"Is everyone gone?"

"Yeah. Colin is still here. Asleep on the sofa I think."

"What about you?"

"I've claimed the chair. And I'm stealing your hoodie to keep me warm." She told him. 

"No problem."

"Proud of you Brad...I'm sorry I crashed your party. I just had to tell you."

He grinned with his eyes closed. "I'm glad you're here."

"Goodnight." She kissed his forehead one more time and headed out. He was snoring before she'd even closed his door. 

 

"So...you missed me?" Lucy smiled sweetly when she rejoined Colin in the living room. 

He grinned, a blush rising in his face. "I really did."

She went to him and straddled his legs, settling comfortably on his lap. She looped her arms around his neck. 

"Bradley ok?"

Lucy nodded. "Fast asleep."

Colin placed his hand behind her neck and pulled her down to his lips, kissing her thoroughly. Her fingers scraped his scalp and she sighed softly. She pulled back and ran her fingertips down his jaw. 

"Loving the scruff." She murmured. 

Colin rested his hands on her thighs, just under the fabric of the floaty jersey dress she wore. His thumbs drew circles on the skin he found here. 

"How's university going?"

"Alright...haven't really started yet. Just settling into halls and freshers week starts on Monday." She told him. 

"Ugh. Freshers. I remember that hangover to this day." Colin curled his lip. 

Lucy giggled and stroked his face. "I've heard it's going to be epic."

"I know you have Bradley acting like your father but if you could text me every couple of days to let me know you're alive I'd really like that..."

"Dunno if it's escaped your notice but I text you nearly every day anyway." She teased. 

"Well...yeah...but not to prove you're not in a gutter somewhere with alcohol poisoning..."

She kissed him on the nose. "I'll check in every day if it makes you feel better."

"Thank you...so...any hot blokes on your course?" He asked with a flippant lilt to his voice. 

"Why? You had a change of direction since I last saw you?" Lucy smirked. 

Colin pinched the skin on her inner thighs until she wriggled against his crotch. 

"Not that I've noticed." She amended. "But I'm not really looking. Been kinda hung up on this hot, Irish guy I met a while back."

"Hung up? Really? Must be a special guy." Colin grinned. 

Lucy huffed a sigh. "He's alright. Not someone I can be with properly though."

"Why not?" He played along. 

"He works away a lot. And he gets a fair bit of attention cause he's pretty famous...and he's about to get a whole lot more famous. Plus, the big one, he's best mates with my crazy overprotective brother and I'm off limits."

"What are you going to do?" Colin looked up at her through his dark lashes. 

She shrugged. "Not a lot I can do. Try not to sound desperate...see him as much as I can...not expect too much too soon...try not to be devastated when he becomes a big star and wants to date a gorgeous model or someone like that..."

Colin cut her off with a passionate kiss. His tongue pushed into her mouth and tangled with hers. She steadied herself with her hands on his shoulders. Her underwear was now completely soaked and Colin's hand slipped up her leg to run his fingertips along the lace edge of her knickers. Lucy pulled back and Colin almost groaned at the sight of her blown pupils and puffy lips. 

"Let's just say I haven't noticed anyone else in a while either." He stated. 

"We're taking a big risk here Col. Are you sure?"

"I hate lying to Bradley. I hate it with a passion. But I know I want to see where this goes. We've got something...haven't we?"

Lucy nodded shyly. "I feel like we do."

"So maybe we need some time to figure it out before we tell Bradley. There's no point in kicking everything off if it turns out we're not really suited..." Colin suggested. 

Lucy nodded seriously. "Don't kick the hornet nest until we know for sure we have reason to?"

"Exactly." Colin agreed. 

Lucy shifted in his lap and giggled as she fumbled with his belt. Colin stilled her movements. 

"I don't want to...you know...just don't...I think more of you than a quickie on the sofa..."

"I know. You're not taking advantage of me Col. I want this." She smiled and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. With determined movements she released his belt, unzipped his jeans and pulled out his throbbing erection. She licked her hand and used it to slick up his shaft, Colin's eyes rolling back in his head at the vision in front of him. Carefully, Lucy leaned up and pulled her sodden knickers aside, positioning Colin where she needed him. One roll of her hips had him completely sheathed in her tight, wet heat. 

"Oh Jesus Lucy." He groaned. "You're amazing."

She arranged her dress around them and rocked in his lap until they were both cross eyed with pleasure. 

"I'm so close." She whispered and upped her efforts by lifting herself up and down his rock solid cock. 

"Come for me." He gritted his teeth. 

Seconds later Lucy fell apart in his arms, shuddering and gasping for breath. When it subsided she moved off him and dropped to her knees to finish him off with her mouth. 

"Wowowow ohh." 

She pumped his shaft with her fist and flicked the head with her tongue and within a couple of minutes he was shooting come down her throat. She swallowed every drop and then gently tucked him back into his jeans. 

"You blow my mind." He said reverently when she curled into his side on the sofa, pulling a blanket over them. 

"That was fun." She told him sleepily, closing her eyes and settling down to sleep. 

Colin made sure she was tucked in and moved to a safe distance at the other side of the sofa before he promptly gave in to the base need for post-coital men to fall asleep. 

 

October 2008

 

Lucy refused to put a label on their relationship. Colin had visited her in her halls and they'd spent the night together. The next morning he'd woken up to an empty bed. He followed the sound of Lucy's voice to the shared kitchen and stopped to hear what she was saying to her flatmate, he assumed was Lori, who Colin hadn't met but heard about from Lucy.  

"You been seeing him long?"

Lucy was buttering toast with vegan spread. "I met him in June. We're just...I don't know...I like him a lot but we're not really in a relationship sort of place..."

Lori snorted a laugh. "Sounded pretty different last night..."

"Oh God. Please don't tell anyone you heard me having sex..."

"Fucking hell Lucy. If I was having sex that good I wouldn't care who knew!"

Lucy giggled softly. "Good thing I'm not you."

"So you like him but you're not a couple?"

"Pretty much."

"You're both free to be with other people?"

Colin waited with a thumping heart for her to answer. 

"I suppose so."

His heart sank to his feet. 

"Your face tells a different story." Lucy's friend stated. 

Lucy inhaled deeply. "Alright...the fact is I'm not even looking at anyone else. I'm not interested in anyone else. But he's older than me, way more experienced and he works abroad a lot. I can't be his girlfriend. It's just not feasible for many reasons. And I'm sure he'll get bored of me soon enough when he has the opportunity to be with someone properly...and when that happens I'll deal with it...but for now I'm enjoying being with him."

Colin's pulse was racing when he heard her words. Her true feelings. The insecurities she hid from him so well. He wasn't looking at anyone else either. Why didn't she know that? He backtracked down the hall and clicked the door open and shut loudly before shuffling down the hall. 

"Col?" Lucy called out. 

He pulled his t-shirt over his head as he approached the kitchen and smiled, realising Lucy's flatmate had got a full view of his upper body. 

"Morning." He greeted Lucy with a tender kiss. She smiled and handed him a plate of toast. "Thanks."

Lucy's flatmate smirked as she drained her coffee cup and stood up. "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone...nice meeting you."

Colin smiled and waved before turning to Lucy. "So...you think I'm looking for a better offer?"

Lucy blushed furiously. "Uh...no..."

"I heard you Luce...and I'm not...you're the only person I'm interested in. And I know we can't be a proper "couple" but this is working for me. I need to know if it isn't working for you."

"Of course it is."

"You sure? Uni is a time for meeting new people and having fun..."

"I can meet people and have fun without sleeping with them." She arched a brow. 

"Ok. Just keep me straight if things change for you." He kissed her gently. 

 

December 2008

 

"What are you doing tonight?" 

Colin ducked out of the living room of his parents' house and into the quiet kitchen to speak to Lucy, his stomach flipping when he heard her voice. It was New Year's Eve and he was back home in Armagh with his family, including his elder brother Neil. Colin's clandestine phone calls hadn't gone unnoticed by his brother over the last week and he'd frequently heard Colin giggling and chatting into the early hours through the thin wall between their childhood bedrooms. 

"Going down the pub in a bit. Me and Neil haven't been out drinking together in a long while so I might write off my birthday before I even start!"

Lucy giggled. "Sounds fun."

"What about you?"

"Amelia is having a party at her place so I'm just going there with a couple of friends from uni." Lucy told him. "Nothing too crazy."

"Stay safe, ok?"

"I will. I can't wait to see you."

His heart twisted with longing. "Me too. Call you tomorrow?"

"Of course. Any time. Just be prepared for me to sing Happy Birthday terribly off-key!"

Colin laughed happily. "Can't wait."

"Have a great night Col."

"You too. Bye."

He hung up and stared at his phone for a moment. Scrolling to a private folder he found a photo of Lucy, taken the night he'd stayed at her halls. She was sitting on the floor of her room watching an episode of Merlin on her laptop while Colin read his latest script while laying on her bed. She looked adorable with her hair scraped into a messy ponytail and her glasses on instead of her contacts. Colin couldn't help snapping some pictures for moments like this, when he missed her more than he could describe. 

"Alright Col?" Neil was leaning on the doorframe with a sly smile. 

Colin blushed slightly. "Yeah."

"You gonna tell me about her?" Neil cut to the chase. 

"Who...?"

Neil shook his head at his brother's attempt to play dumb. "I've listened to you giggling down the phone every day since you got here. You've got something going on. Are you gonna tell me?"

Colin sighed. "It's complicated."

"It usually is." Neil agreed. 

"Later...I'll need a drink..." Colin replied. 

 

Lucy got Colin's text when she was getting ready for Amelia's party. 

"My brother has guessed I've got a secret. Can I talk to him about us? Won't go any further. Just be nice to talk to someone else...x"

She smiled at his concern and replied immediately that it was absolutely fine to talk to his brother. He replied with a simple message of a few kisses. 

 

Neil set the pint down in front of Colin and sat opposite him. 

"This place never changes eh?" He nudged his head to the pub and smiled. It was exactly the same as it was when the lads first started drinking years earlier. 

"Imagine the uproar." Colin joked. 

"So...talk to me..."

Colin chuckled shallowly. "It's a bit of a mess. I haven't really talked about it to anyone."

"Not even Bradley?"

"Especially not Bradley."

Neil quirked an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I met a girl in June when I was filming in France. Lucy. We've been kinda together, sort of, ever since. Well since I saw her again in September."

"Kind of sort of." Neil frowned. "Is she your girlfriend or not?"

Colin shrugged. "I want her to be...but..."

"What?"

"She's younger than me. She was 17 when we met but she's 18 now."

Neil tried to hide the look of surprise and nodded along. "Alright. Not too dodgy. Are you sleeping with her?"

Colin blushed furiously and Neil had his answer. 

"Not illegal...just surprised you'd be interested in someone so much younger."

"She's ridiculously mature. Way beyond me most of the time." Colin snorted. 

"So what's the issue?"

"I hardly get to see her, she lives in London now...but..."

"Colin. Stop bullshitting me. What aren't you telling me?" Neil cut him off. 

"She's Bradley's sister."

"Oh fuck me Colin." Neil exhaled loudly. 

"I know. Total mess." Colin scratched at the stubble on his face. 

"I suppose he wouldn't be too happy to find out you're shagging his little sister..."

Colin shot his brother a dirty look. "Don't say it like that."

"But it's the truth. You are having sex with his teenage sister, right?" Neil argued. 

"There's a bit more to it than that..." Colin muttered. 

"What? You're in love with her?" Neil scoffed. 

Colin didn't respond but the tips of his ears were burning. 

"Argh fuck no Colin..."

"Neil. It's been three months, most of which I haven't actually seen her. I don't know if it's that serious." Colin argued. "But I know I care about her and I enjoy spending time with her..."

Neil rubbed his forehead. "If you're thinking about getting serious with her you need to tell Bradley. He's a good lad and he deserves to hear the truth from you."

"I know..."

Neil downed some of his pint and they mulled over their conversation silently. 

"What's she like then?" Neil finally broke the silence. 

Colin's face split into a grin. "Brilliant. Pretty much the exact opposite of me..."

He found the photo on his phone and showed Neil, who smiled softly. 

"She's really pretty." He commented. "Looks a fair bit like Bradley."

Colin nodded. "Yeah. She's really clever too. She's studying law at uni. I dunno Neil...we just clicked...before I knew she was Bradley's sister..."

Neil sighed. "It's not the end of the world."

"He's so overprotective...he'll see it like a betrayal..."

"That's his problem but the longer you carry on behind his back and lie to him the more right he has to feel betrayed." Neil stated. 

"I know you're right. But the thought of losing him as a friend...fucking up a great relationship on screen too...it terrifies me."

Neil pursed his lips. "Then maybe you need to think about ending things with Lucy before it goes on much longer."

"That terrifies me the most." Colin admitted. 

 

Lucy sipped her rum and coke, gazing around as the party whirled around her. It was late, after 2am, and it was a new year and also Colin's 23rd birthday. She wanted to be with him so badly. He seemed so far away when he was in Armagh and it left a pain in her chest. 

"Luce! Come on!"

She smiled up at her friend Callie. "What?"

"We're playing truth or dare."

"What are we, 12?" Lucy rolled her eyes. 

"It'll be a laugh." Callie tugged her by the hand until Lucy followed her to the lounge where the group had gathered. 

Amelia spun the bottle and it landed on Greg, her friend from work. He opted for truth and had to tell the tale his lost virginity. The majority of people chose truth so when Lucy's turn came she opted for a dare.

"Lucy...you have to snog Ryan for one minute." Callie grinned wickedly. 

Lucy shook her head. "No way."

Ryan snorted. "Thanks Luce."

She chuckled and ruffled his messy black hair that actually reminded her a lot of Colin's. "No offence...I'm not snogging anyone."

Amelia gazed at her thoughtfully. "Why not? It's just a bit of fun."

"Not sure my boyfriend would see it that way." Lucy shrugged. 

"Boyfriend?" Amelia gasped. "Since when?"

Lucy shrugged again. "Not long. No big deal...I just don't want to be kissing anyone else."

"What's his name?" Callie asked, looking amazed that she didn't know Lucy was seeing someone. 

"Carl."

"What's he like?" Amelia chipped in. 

Lucy sighed. "He's sweet, kind, funny and fucking gorgeous. Do you want to give me another dare or should I knock back a shot?"

"Neck the shot." Ryan grinned, and Lucy did just that. 

"You got a photo of your mystery man?" Amelia asked her sister. 

"No. We're not that sort of couple." Lucy curled her lip. 

"Does Bradley know?"

"About Carl? God no."

"Very wise." Amelia grinned. 

 

January 2009 

 

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Colin! Happy birthday to you!" Lucy sang down the phone when she rang at lunchtime. "Did I leave enough time for you to surface from hangover hell?"

Colin laughed warmly. "Yes thank you. And not a single note off-key."

"Lies. How's your day going?" She asked him. 

"Good, actually. Going out for lunch with pretty much every living relative soon so that's bound to be the unbeatable highlight of my year."

Lucy snorted with laughter. "Fantastic!"

"You sound very chipper today. Good party?" He replied. 

"Yes. Really good. I haven't been to bed yet so if I start snoring just hang up."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. To both."

"It's nearly midday!"

"It was a cool party." She giggled. 

"I'm not sure I was that much of a party animal when I was 18!"

Lucy's soft giggle made him feel so happy. 

"I need to see you." He blurted out. 

"You alright?"

"Yes. I just miss you. I haven't seen you for ages." He sighed. 

"Three weeks." She clicked her tongue. "I miss you too."

"Do you have any free time coming up? We could see a show...get some dinner..."

Lucy sighed heavily. "That all sounds lovely but we risk being seen..."

"I'll go in disguise."

Lucy laughed. "Alright. Pick a date and I'll make sure I'm free."

"Alright." He beamed. "And keep Valentine's Day free too. I have plans."

"Wow. This almost feels like you're my boyfriend." She teased. 

"I am." He stated quietly. "You're just the only one who knows I am."

"I'm the only person that matters." She replied. 

"You are."


	3. Where’s The Harm?

_ February 2009 _

 

"This place is amazing Colin!" Lucy gasped as she bounced on the bed. 

Colin closed the door behind them and dropped their bags on the floor. The hotel room was huge, with a massive bed and a bath that could earn you a 10 metre badge with a couple of laps. 

"A whole night together. Just us." She clapped excitedly. "Do you know what I'm most looking forward to?"

"The massage I booked for us?"

"You're going to let a stranger touch you?" Lucy was diverted. 

He nodded. "I thought you'd like it."

"A stranger touching you? You have had girlfriends before right Col?" 

He tipped his head back and laughed. "It's a couples massage. We go in this little room together and it has a mud bath and stuff..."

Lucy reached out to stroke his face, enjoying the scruff he was still growing. 

"You did that for me?" She asked, knowing things like that made him uncomfortable. 

"Well...yeah..."

She reached up and kissed him gently. "Thanks. But the thing I'm most looking forward to is waking up with you in the morning...we never get to do that."

He kissed her again slowly. "Very true."

Lucy lay back on the bed and pulled Colin down on top of her, kissing him thoroughly. "Thanks for this Colin. It's nice to do stuff like this with you."

He smiled his agreement and their kisses progressed to the most gentle lovemaking they'd ever experienced. Lucy held him as he moved steadily above her, gazing down at her in utter reverence. Later, when they were basking in the afterglow, Colin was hit with the realisation that he was a total goner. 

 

March 2008

 

"Happy birthday Mum!" Bradley hugged his mother tightly before he'd even dropped his bag. 

"Thanks son. Come on...Lucy's making dinner."

"Amelia here yet?"

"On her way. Lucy got the earlier train."

Bradley followed his mother to the kitchen and grinned when he saw Lucy stirring a sauce on the hob. "Hello sis."

"Hi Bradley!" She grabbed him in a hug. 

"Need a hand?"

"Any good at chopping onions?"

"You've seen Merlin. You know my sword skills." He joked. 

They cooked together and chatted back and forth with their mother hovering and beaming at their obvious bond. Amelia arrived soon after and they sat down to eat the meal Lucy had prepared. 

"Ratatouille?" Amelia wrinkled her nose. 

"Yes. And?" Lucy countered. 

"Would be perfect as the side dish to juicy steak." Amelia replied with a smirk. 

Bradley, inclined to agree but feeling the need to stick up for Lucy, shook his head. "If you were here earlier you could've made dinner yourself. Juicy steaks included."

"I was on a train, not a hurricane jet."

"Lucy managed to get here earlier." Bradley needled. 

Amelia snorted. "Because she was closer. She's been in St Austell for the last two days with her boyfriend."

Lucy's face flushed when Bradley's eyes bored into her. 

"Boyfriend?"

Their mother tried to contain her laughter but it spilled out. "You didn't know?"

He shook his head. "Didn't get that memo."

Lucy huffed. "I'm not discussing this."

"Pretty necklace Lucy..." Amelia pushed her luck anyway. 

Bradley narrowed his eyes at the silver chain with a tiny owl pendant. "He's buying you jewellery?"

"It was a gift for Valentine's Day alright?" Lucy snapped. 

"How long have you been seeing this bloke?" Bradley asked quietly. 

"Not long."

"That's what you said at Christmas." Amelia retorted. 

"What? You've been with him that long?"

"September." Lucy confirmed. "When I moved to London."

Bradley couldn't decide how to feel about this news so he settled on disgruntled. 

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was avoiding the Spanish Inquisition Bradley. You're a nightmare and in all honesty I wanted to see how long I could have a relaxed relationship before you turned into the gestapo." Lucy snapped and left Bradley sitting in shock. 

"I'm not that bad!" He argued. 

"Yes you are! You gave me grief the entire time I was seeing Brian. I'm 18 years old and terrified to tell you I'm seeing someone! Surely that tells you how bad you are!"

Bradley deflated and sighed. "I'm sorry...I just worry about you..."

Lucy scoffed. "You have no reason to worry. I'm capable of running my own life."

Amelia, realising she'd started something that could potentially ruin their mother's birthday, tried to do some damage limitation. 

"Let's change the subject and move on eh?"

Bradley nodded. "Sure...just...he's a good guy right? I mean, he's got good taste in jewellery...but does he treat you well?"

Lucy smiled and nodded. "He's the sweetest, kindest man I've ever met that I wasn't related to."

Bradley smiled back at her. "Ok then. I'd like to meet him one day."

"One day. Maybe." She blushed and turned back to her food. 

 


	4. All Good Things

_ June 2009 _

 

The weather in Pierrefonds was glorious and Colin had already been told off twice for sitting in the sun, risking continuity issues by gaining a tan. Bradley had noticed his friend wasn't himself. Colin switched it on when the cameras were rolling but off-set he had lost the spark Bradley had come to love seeing in him and he seemed ratty for no real reason. 

"What's going on Cols? You seem quiet." Bradley asked gently when they broke for the day. 

Colin shrugged. "I'm alright."

"Girl trouble? The girl you met last year? Can I help?"

Colin sighed at his persistence but stopped walking and turned to Bradley. 

"Yes. In a way. Being here...it's so far away. The longest we've not seen each other since we started...and we're not even officially a couple...I mean we are, to each other, but we live such different lives that we both agreed to keep it at a distance and it's just not working for me any more..." 

Bradley stared at Colin as he absorbed his ramblings. "Oh...so you want to break up with her?"

"No! That's the absolute last thing I want!"

"Alright..."

"But I haven't seen her for two months. We text and call but I haven't actually seen her for two months. She's got her life going on without me in London...and she's so different to me...she's got tons of friends and she's a real social butterfly...she's bound to meet someone else and decide I'm not worth it...I'm sorry Bradley...I just really fucking miss her..."

The fight left Colin and he stopped, as if suddenly realising Bradley was not the person he should be discussing this with. 

Bradley frowned. "I didn't know you were serious..."

"I'm not supposed to be. That's not what we agreed. But here I am." Colin groaned. 

Bradley punched his shoulder. "You need to talk to her. See if she can visit you here, or you pop home for a couple of days. If she's the right girl for you then you'll figure it out."

Colin felt his body start to shiver. "I really want to."

"There's nobody in the world good enough for you mate. You're one of the good guys. Fight for her if she's what you want."

Colin's stomach lurched. "I've got to go."

 

Lucy finished university for the day and headed off campus towards her halls with Callie and Lori. 

"Lucy!"

Her stomach flipped and her heart lurched as she recognised the voice. "Col?"

"Is that Carl?" Callie hissed and Lori shot her a look, silencing her immediately. Lori was Lucy's confidant, just like Neil was Colin's. 

Lucy dropped her bag and ran across the green to Colin, who scooped her into a tight hug and pressed kisses to her face. She pulled back and gazed at him, stroking his babyface cheek lovingly. 

"What are you doing here? Why aren't you in France?" She demanded. 

"I've got one night. I had to see you. I was going crazy." He murmured and then her lips were on his and she kissed him deeply. 

"One night is better than nothing. Come on..." She grabbed his hand. 

"I can book a hotel...wow that sounds seedy..." Colin snorted. 

"My flatmates are all going to be home so a hotel would be really good actually..."

Colin grinned and pecked her lips. "Great...I can't promise I'm going to be quiet."

"You'd better not be." 

 

"Fuck!!" Colin gasped as he pounded into Lucy from behind. He gripped her hips and she pushed back on him. 

"Col...please...harder...gonna come..."

"Together." He gritted out and fucked her even harder and faster. 

It was like a white light exploding behind his eyes when he came. Lucy was shuddering wildly and they rode it out together. It was their third round of the night and by far the most energetic. He slumped over her and kissed the back of her neck. 

"Amazing." He exhaled and slipped out of her, moving off her and onto the bed. Lucy curled alongside his long body and sighed. 

"We keep finding better ways to do that." 

He chuckled at her words as he ran his fingers down her bare spine. "We really do."

"Where does Bradley think you are?"

Colin faltered in his movements for a split second. "In London. Visiting my girlfriend."

"Luisa?"

"Yeah. We don't really talk about it much but I sort of had a wobbler the other day and he got the brunt of it..."

"A wobbler?" Lucy laughed. "Explain?"

"Argh it was YOUR fault!" Colin growled. "I was climbing the walls!"

"Ohh! You were horny and getting snappy with everyone?" She joked. 

Colin reached down and tickled her ribs. "No!" He argued. 

"No? You and your hand need to be better friends if you're grumpy when I'm not around." Lucy squirmed out of his hold. 

"I wasn't grumpy. I just missed you, alright? Two fucking months without being in the same room as you. I was going crazy." He confessed quietly. 

Lucy's fingertips drew hearts on his chest. "So what happened with Bradley?"

Colin sighed. "He could tell something was wrong and asked me about it. It all came tumbling out. How I hadn't seen you for ages and I missed you and how I was insecure about you giving up on me when I can't be around much..."

"Oh Colin..." Lucy exhaled. 

"So he told me to fight for you if you were what I wanted. He told me to find a way to get home so I could see you and settle myself down. So here I am. Doubt that would've been his advice if he knew the truth..." Colin explained. 

Lucy propped her head up on her hand. "This is getting serious, isn't it?"

Colin snorted. "Serious? I think we arrived at that destination quite some time ago."

"It's a year next week since we met." Lucy added. 

"A whole year...wow..." Colin mused. 

"A year of thinking about you all of the time, a year of wanting to see you, a year of trying so hard not to fall in love with you..." She murmured. 

"Why?"

"I've always known that if it came to it you would choose Bradley's friendship over being with me. I've tried to protect myself for the day it happens."

Colin stared at her with his jaw hanging open. "Lucy..."

She smiled crookedly. "You two are best friends. Like...proper best friends, not the fake celebrity kind. I couldn't be the reason you two didn't stay that way. It would hurt the two people in the world that I most want to be happy."

Colin frowned. "I'm not much of a best friend, am I? Being here with you and lying to his face repeatedly for a full year. I don't think I'll win any awards for Friend of the Year."

"That's why I think we should stop seeing each other." Lucy spoke softly, her voice wavering slightly. 

"What?" Colin gasped. 

A lone tear slid down her face. "I'm getting in too deep and it's going to hurt too much if we leave it longer. We need to stop."

"But..."

She stroked his cheek. "You know it's right Col."

"But I l..."

She cut him off with a tender kiss. "It's been a great year. Let's put some distance between us and move on."

"Weren't you listening when I described my wobbler?" He stared at her. "I don't do well with distance."

Another tear slid down her face and she smiled wistfully. "Another reason we're not doing ourselves any favours."

She sat up and wiped her face. "I should go..."

"No...stay...let's have tonight...I want to wake up with you one more time." He pleaded. 

Lucy got back into the bed and curled up beside him. "I'm sorry."

"I understand. I knew this day would come. I just wasn't ready for it." He mumbled. 

"I want you to be happy." She kissed his shoulder. 

"And that's all I want for you too."

 

Colin arrived back in France at his agreed time and went straight to his hotel room. He dropped his bag and flopped onto the bed. A knock at his door ten minutes later stirred him from his daze. 

"Go away." He muttered loudly. 

"Cols? It's me...how'd it go?" Bradley called out. 

Colin got up at opened the door, noticing the shock on Bradley's face as he took in the sight of a thoroughly distraught Colin. 

"How'd it go?" Colin repeated. "Well I don't have a girlfriend to worry about anymore..."

Bradley winced. "Oh...fuck...sorry mate."

"I just want to be alone."

He went to close the door but Bradley stopped him. "It's her loss Cols...you're the best bloke I know..."

Colin kicked the door wide open and snapped angrily. "No! It's my loss. Because she's the best thing that's ever fucking happened to me and now we're finished. And I couldn't even argue with her because she's so fucking right and so fucking sensible! I can't be there for her when I'm not even in the same country and we can't even tell people we're together! It's MY loss Bradley..."

He stopped and gasped for breath, the wind knocked out of his sails when he saw Bradley looking at him with sympathetic horror. He looked so much like Lucy in that moment and he didn't know how it had escaped him before. His hair was the same colour and the eyes were the same shape, only Lucy's were a darker shade of blue. It was like she was staring back at him as he had yet another wobbler. 

"I'm sorry Bradley. I'm sorry you're on the end of this side of me lately..." 

Bradley led him into the room and closed the door. Colin slumped into bed and pulled the covers over his head. 

"I just need some time." 

Bradley ruffled his hair through the blanket. "Take as much time as you need."


	5. Coming Clean

_ July 2009 _

 

"He's so miserable." Angel sighed heavily. 

Katie chewed her apple slowly and watched Colin from across the courtyard. The bright summer sun had once again chased him into the shadows and he was slumped against a wall as he read his script listlessly. 

"I think he's actually heartbroken."

"Should we talk to him?" Angel asked. 

Bradley appeared beside them. "He won't talk to me about it. But she's really done a number on him."

Katie tossed her apple core into the field behind them. "I can't believe he was seeing someone for so long and we never met her. He rarely even mentioned her."

"He's a private person." Angel noted. "He certainly wouldn't kiss and tell."

Katie snorted a laugh into her hand. "Remember that day he got caught by the girls in make up trying to cover a hickey. I swear he nearly died of embarrassment. I'm pretty sure he thought we all believed he was a virgin!"

Angel giggled. "That was so funny! He really hated us that day."

"He's suffering in silence when he could be telling us all of her flaws so we can use them against her and make her as miserable as she's making him." Bradley muttered. 

"Spoken like the true Prince Arthur." Angel laughed. 

"Come on. Let's try to cheer him up. He's been moping for six weeks." Katie stood up. 

 

"You ok Cols?" Bradley asked when they approached their friend. 

Colin glanced up from his script and offered a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Aye."

"Wanna come and watch Richard filming with the animals?" Katie grinned. 

Colin chuckled and got to his feet. "I'd pay to see that."

They made their way to the fields behind the main castle to where Richard was being shown how to handle a huge falcon. Colin was smiling brightly and Angel was hugging him around the middle. His expression changed to sadness when the falcon was switched with an owl. 

"Alright?" Angel murmured. 

"Yeah." Colin smiled. "Owls just make me think of her...she loves them."

Bradley felt his heart ache for his friend when he heard the tone of desolation in his voice. Seeing Colin falling apart like this made him realise he'd never truly been in love before and it hurt him to see his friend suffer so badly. 

"Never seen the attraction myself...Lucy loves them though..." Bradley muttered to himself more than anything. 

If Angel hadn't been hugging Colin around his waist she would never have felt his whole body jerk and then freeze. She looked up at him quizzically but he refused to meet her gaze. 

"Oh!" She gasped as the realisation hit her. Colin shook his head fiercely and Angel caught herself. Katie glanced over with a frown. 

"You ok?"

"Forgot I was meant to ring my mum! I have to go back to my room for a minute..."

With that she dashed away from the group and Colin knew he had to catch up and do some damage limitation. He made a feeble excuse and then followed Angel back to the trailers off the set. 

 

"You can't tell him." Colin spoke softly but firmly when he reached Angel. 

She waved her arms around her head. "What the fuck Colin? What the actual fuck?"

He sighed heavily and sat down on the metal steps of her trailer. "I didn't mean for it to happen..."

"Lucy? Lucy is Luisa? Your best friend's little sister? And he had no idea? Fuck!"

Angel was pacing around the patch of grass in front of Colin. 

"We couldn't tell him. He's so protective of his sisters...he wouldn't understand..." Colin muttered petulantly. 

"She's so young Colin!"

"She's nearly 19...next week she's 19."

"But she wasn't 19 when you met her! She was the girl you met in the village?"

He nodded solemnly. "I didn't know she was Bradley's sister. We really clicked. You know how amazing she is."

Angel exhaled her breath slowly before she spoke. She did know how amazing Lucy was. She really liked the girl. 

"So what happened?"

Colin blushed slightly. "I tried to stop it. I really did try. But she's just so...what's the word...I dunno...she just swept me along and before I knew it we were a thing."

"Did you sleep with her when she was in France?"

"Why does that matter?" Colin scowled. 

Angel gave a gentle chuckle. "It doesn't. I'm just being nosy. And I assume that's a yes."

"Yes. Alright." Colin admitted. 

"So you were together for a year?"

He nodded sadly. "Kinda. She went home and we kept in touch with texts but I didn't see her again until she came to Bradley's launch party at his flat."

"But you were texting Luisa that night..."

Colin smiled wryly. "I was texting Lucy that night because we had stuff to say that we couldn't say out loud."

"Kinky fucker."

"Not like that! Jesus! One track mind. We were admitting that we'd missed each other. After that...we were together." Colin told her. 

"Did you sleep with her at the party?"

Colin's ears burned furiously. "Angel..."

"Another yes. Wow." She giggled. 

Colin was silent and pensive. "You're not going to tell him?"

"Would it be the worst thing in the world if he knew?" Angel asked. 

"Yes Angel. We broke up because we were getting too serious. We've spent a year lying to the people closest to us...we couldn't go on like that. But the alternative was telling Bradley and we just couldn't. Lucy wasn't prepared to risk ruining our friendship and our work chemistry. So she ended it."

"But you're miserable. Like actually dying inside miserable. He'd want you to be happy." She countered with a passion that Colin didn't share. 

He shook his head. "He would hate me for lying, hate me for sleeping with his sister and he'd hate me for falling in love with her."

"You love her?"

"I do."

"You're in love with her?"

"I am." He confirmed. With a puff of dry laughter he closed his eyes to stem the tears he wanted to cry. "I'm trying to remember when I knew...maybe it was that day last November when I was struggling to learn my lines so she set us up on Skype and read lines with me until 4am...or maybe it was my birthday when she rang me to sing Happy Birthday when she hadn't even made it to bed yet...or Valentine's Day when I surprised her with a night in one of those stately home spas and she cancelled the reservations I'd made for a couples massage because she knew I'd hate having a stranger prodding me while I was covered in mud so we ordered room service and watched Strangers on a Train instead...or maybe, and this is what kills me, maybe it was that day in the village when some random, beautiful girl paid for my chocolate because I couldn't understand that the lady serving me didn't have any change for me and I couldn't stop just fucking staring at her...when do you know Angel?"

A tear broke free and he quickly swiped it away. Her heart broke for him. She wiped away her own tears and enveloped him in a tight hug. 

"I think you just know. It's all of those moments Col. She's clearly a very special girl."

"She just gets me, you know? And I'm not easy to get. I know that. But she does. She did." He smiled weakly. 

"Bradley would be so lucky to have someone like you dating his sister. He'd never have to worry that you didn't care about her." She stroked his hair. 

Colin started to laugh into her shoulder. "I wish that was true."

 

Lucy woke up on her birthday at home in Devon with her mother already downstairs cooking breakfast. She sighed and stretched, reaching for her phone. Most of her closest friends had already sent her messages and she smiled as she read all of the birthday love. She was about to head to the bathroom when another message came through. From Carl. Her stomach flipped. 

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Lucy. Happy birthday to you (definitely a little off-key).  I miss you. Cx"

Her fingers couldn't type fast enough as she started to laugh and weep at the same time. 

"Thank you. I totally read that in your voice. Miss you too. This is harder than I thought it would be. Lx."

"Hardest thing I've ever had to do. Enjoy your day lovely xx"

She went for a shower so she could have a little cry before breakfast. 

 

A couple of days later, back in London, Lucy's friends threw her a belated birthday party. She didn't feel much like celebrating and sipped at one glass of prosecco for nearly two hours. 

"Your boyfriend not coming?" Callie asked her. 

Lucy shook her head. "We broke up."

"Huh? When?"

"When he came to visit me after uni that day."

Callie frowned in confusion. "But you were so happy to see each other. What went wrong?"

Lucy smiled weakly. "It just wasn't to be. Excuse me. I need the loo."

 

"Have you seen Lucy?" Lori asked Callie a little while later. 

"About half an hour ago maybe. She was going to the loo..." Callie answered. 

Lori headed off in the direction of the bathroom but detoured into Lucy's bedroom. 

"Oh fuck. Lucy!" She gasped and ran to the other side of the room where Lucy was lying prone on the floor. 

 

Bradley was bouncing off the walls when Colin found him packing a bag in his hotel room. 

"Bradley?" 

"I need to go..."

"Go where?"

"Home. Lucy's in hospital."

Colin's heart plummeted to his boots. "What? Is she ok?"

Bradley's eyes were wild. "I don't know. Mum didn't have details yet. Just that she was found at a party collapsed on the floor."

"Fuck...I'm coming with you..." Colin blurted out as he turned to run to his room. 

"They won't let you go too Cols."

"They won't have a choice." He replied. 

 

The plane trip was horrific. Time stretched out before them like an unclimbable wall. Colin was anxiously trying to hide his fear from Bradley while at the same time trying to comfort his best friend. Finally they made it to the hospital and located Amelia in the emergency department. 

"Is she ok? What happened?" Bradley grabbed her in a hug. 

Amelia looked pale and dazed. "I just got here. I don't know yet. Mum is with her."

The door opened and a younger girl appeared, who Colin recognised as Lucy's best friend Lori. She met his eyes and gave a quirk of a smile and he realised she would not out him to Bradley's family. 

"Hi...I'm Lori...Lucy's friend." She introduced herself. 

Amelia stepped forward. "What happened?"

Lori frowned. "I don't really know. We had a party for her birthday and she was fine. A bit miserable since she split up with her boyfriend...but she was alright. I went to find her and she was lying on her bedroom floor."

Colin felt like he'd been punched in the gut. 

"She split up with her boyfriend?" Amelia repeated and Lori nodded. 

"A few weeks ago."

Bradley edged closer. "Did she have too much to drink? Could she have taken any drugs?"

Amelia shook her head. "She wouldn't..."

"She's not like that." Colin spoke automatically without thinking. 

Bradley glared at them all. "Normal, healthy 19 year olds don't just collapse!"

"And speculating isn't going to confirm anything so wait until the doctors have news before you write her off as a junkie!" Amelia snapped. 

Bradley glowered but he calmed down within seconds. "Sorry."

 

Bradley's mother Janet came into the waiting room a few minutes later with red eyes and a noticeable shake. 

"Mum...what's going on?" Amelia pulled her into a hug. 

Janet wiped her eyes. "She's coming around now...they had to operate..."

Bradley leapt forward. "Is she ok?"

Janet nodded once. "She will be. She had a blood clot. The doctors removed it and she's in the recovery room. We can see her now."

"How did that happen?" Amelia frowned. "She's super fit. Vegetarian. Doesn't smoke."

Janet took a deep breath and glanced between Colin and Lori as if trying to decide if they should be in the room for this. Evidently she decided it was safe and steadied herself to speak. 

"She was pregnant." Janet said softly. "I'm assuming she didn't know. It was only about nine or ten weeks. It was ectopic and it caused internal bleeding, which caused the blood clot."

"What?" Bradley gasped, immediately going pale. 

Colin's mouth fell open. Lori glared at him in an effort to make him realise himself. 

"What does that mean?" Bradley asked softly. 

"The baby started growing outside of the womb...in one of the tubes. It's very dangerous and makes you ill." Janet explained. 

"She never said she was feeling ill..." Amelia frowned. 

Lori shook her head. "She hasn't been herself lately but we all put it down to being upset about the break up...she was a bit pale and wasn't eating much...we didn't think it was anything else..."

"So she's not pregnant now?" Bradley asked. 

Janet shook her head. "No son...the baby couldn't survive. They terminated it when they operated."

Colin felt his eyes begin to sting and he took a step back. He couldn't hide it anymore. 

Lori glared and shook her head firmly. 

"I need to see her." Colin stated and moved to the door. 

"Colin? What...?" Bradley frowned and followed his friend as he darted out of the room and went to find Lucy. 

 

Lucy looked up when the door opened and she saw Colin in the doorway, with Bradley coming up behind him. Tears streamed down her face. 

"I'm so sorry Colin." She burst into more tears. 

Colin moved quickly to her side and grabbed her hand. "Don't be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry about."

Bradley was frozen to the spot as he watched his best friend cup his sister's face in his hands and brush away her tears. 

"I didn't know..." Lucy sobbed. 

Colin was now silently crying too and Bradley could only stare in stunned horror as it all fell into place. 

"YOU!" He hollered, surging forward to grab Colin and wrench him away from Lucy. 

Colin, although the same height as Bradley's 6ft, was not as well built as him so he ended up pushed against the wall with Bradley pushing on his chest. 

"Bradley...no..." Lucy gasped for breath. 

"You slept with my sister?" Bradley hissed with rage, his face contorted and bright red. 

Amelia dashed in behind Bradley and pulled him forcefully off Colin. 

"Stop it!" She yelled at Bradley. "You're not helping."

"Helping? You think I want to help? I want to fucking kill him!" Bradley snapped. 

Janet appeared in the room. "Bradley...now isn't the time..."

"Are you all crazy? None of you give a fuck that he got her pregnant?" Bradley was incredulous, throwing his hands in the air to punctuate his anger. 

"Hey! You're upsetting Lucy." Colin hissed. 

"You're worried about Lucy now?" Bradley ground now. "How come you care now?"

Colin squared up to his friend. "I've always cared! I'm in love with her!"

Bradley choked on his next words. "You're in LOVE with her? Since when? You've had a girlfriend...oh my fucking God...she was your girlfriend? Fuck off! A year! You've been seeing her for a year?"

Colin shook his head. "You don't understand..."

"Make me understand! Explain to me how you've kept it from me for a year that you've been sleeping with my little sister and you knocked her up?" Bradley snarled. 

"BRADLEY!" Janet snapped. "Enough!"

"Bradley...please...I know you're angry. You have every right. But I really need to talk to Colin..." Lucy murmured softly. 

Lucy turned to Colin and he went to her again, ignoring the fact Bradley was still close enough to swing a punch. He held her hand in between both of his and pressed his lips to her fingertips. 

"You love me?" She mumbled sleepily. 

Colin huffed a laugh. "Of course I do. I shouldn't have let you walk away from me."

"I thought it was for the best." She sighed. 

"It definitely wasn't best for me." He told her, stroking her wrist with his thumb. 

"No. Not me either." She replied. 

They were both still crying as they leaned into each other. 

"You're the best thing in my life." Colin whispered. 

"Even now...? Even with the baby...?" She closed her eyes tightly. 

"Always Lucy. Always." He assured her. 

"And now that everyone knows?" She risked a half smile. 

Colin returned it with a half smile of his own. "It was fucking stupid to think we weren't going to end up together." He said with a air of certainty. 

Bradley walked out of the room, leaving Amelia and Janet standing at the end of the bed, watching silently as Lucy and Colin put their broken lives back together. 

"How do you feel?" Colin asked her. 

"Sore. I remember going to my room for my hoodie...well your hoodie actually...and I just had the worst pain in my tummy...then I woke up here..."

"And how are you feeling about the baby...?"

Lucy sighed. "Sad...it's not how I wanted things to turn out...but I'm really not ready to have a child now. We're not ready. Maybe this was God's way of letting me know it's not the right time."

Colin smiled weakly and nodded. "Yeah."

"What are we going to do about Bradley?"

His smile faltered. "I'll talk to him."

Lucy's shaky hand reached up to stroke his clean shaven jaw. "I love you too. In case you were wondering."

Colin chuckled quietly. "It had crossed my mind."

"When are you going back to work?"

"They don't even know I'm gone yet..."

"Col! You'll get into trouble." She admonished. 

His arched eyebrows replied for him. 

"Yeah alright." She conceded. 

"Will you be ok if I find Bradley?"

She nodded. "I need to sleep."

Colin leaned closer and pressed his lips to hers tenderly. "I'll be back soon."

 

Amelia filled Colin's space beside Lucy while Janet stood behind her. 

"Lucy..." Amelia stroked her hand. "You ok?"

"I don't know." Lucy's lip wobbled. "I don't want Bradley to hate me."

"He doesn't hate you. He's just hurt you lied to him." Janet replied. 

"I never wanted to hurt him. But he's...you know what he's like...he wouldn't understand."

Amelia huffed a laugh. "We all know what Bradley's like."

Janet brushed Lucy's hair out of her face. "You really love him...Colin...you really love each other..."

It wasn't really a question. 

Lucy nodded solemnly. "Yeah. Despite all our efforts we ended up getting serious after all."

"He's a lovely guy." Amelia smiled at her little sister. "Bradley will see that he's good for you."

 

Colin couldn't find Bradley anywhere. He'd searched the entire hospital, inside and out, before he resorted to calling him. He was waiting for Bradley to answer when he heard his familiar ringtone from nearby. He moved closer to the sound and Bradley was there, sitting on a bench surrounded by blooming flowers, pointedly ignoring his phone. Colin hung up and approached cautiously. 

"Don't Colin. Please. I can't talk to you now." Bradley spoke hoarsely. 

Colin sighed and dropped into place beside him on the bench. "You don't need to talk to me. You just sit there and I'll do the talking."

"Colin. I'm begging you. Don't." Bradley exhaled through his nose. 

"I need to. Not for me. I know I've probably broken our friendship completely. This is for Lucy. Because she's in there hurting and needing you and you're out here when you should be with her. She thinks you hate her."

"I hate both of you for lying to me. For betraying me."

Colin sighed. "You can hate me as much as you like. But you don't get to hate Lucy."

"You're saying you took advantage of her? Forced her to sleep with you?"

"Of course I bloody didn't. Jesus." Colin retorted. "She's your sister. You can disagree with her but you don't get to hate her."

"Did you two laugh at me behind my back? How stupid is Bradley? He's got no idea we're screwing around. Making up code names. Ha ha ha." Bradley ground out. 

"No! Of course we didn't. You know, you're doing a lot of talking for someone you didn't want to speak to me." Colin snorted. 

Bradley glared at him mutinously. 

"Well excuse me for being a touch pissed off...but I've just found out you've been shagging my sister for a year behind my back."

Colin narrowed his eyes in warning. "Stop fixating on the physical side of it. It's not about that. It's never been about that."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Yes! Do you think I'd risk all of this for the sake of getting my leg over? You must realise it's not about that. If I could've stayed away from her I absolutely would've done."

"Yeah right." Bradley muttered. 

"I love her Bradley." Colin said simply. "And I'm so sorry for the way everything has happened and that you found out like this. But none of that changes how I feel about her. I'm completely in love with her."

Bradley was silent. His expression was clouded with anger but he didn't speak. 

"Do you want to hear it? I'll tell you everything if that's what you want." Colin offered. 

Bradley curled his lip. "You think I want to hear you describe in detail fucking my sister?"

Colin glowered at him. "Stop! Grow up will you? This is why we couldn't fucking tell you Bradley! This is exactly the reason."

The blond fell silent once more and Colin took several calming breaths. 

"She was the girl I met at the shop in the village...she was behind me in the queue and jumped in to help when the lady totally confused me speaking French. I saw her and I was just...blown away...it was like nothing I'd ever felt before. She bought my chocolate and we ended up going for a coffee. She made me laugh like an idiot. We talked about all sorts...how rubbish my French is, the best kind of chocolate, being vegetarian, how many funerals we'd been to...but we didn't mention anything about family or Merlin and when we left I had no idea who she was. I went back to the hotel and I couldn't stop thinking about her. I'd had the best day in a long time. Maybe I was lonely and she was a new face...but I really felt like we connected. Angel could tell. My stupid dopey grin gave me away. Then the next day I went to meet her again as we'd planned...and you were there. It was surreal."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Bradley exhaled slowly. 

"You'd made such a big deal about how unforgivable it would be for anyone to get involved with your sisters...and there I was going on a date with one accidentally. I couldn't tell you. As far as we were concerned that was it...we weren't going any further." Colin explained. 

"What changed then? Why didn't you just keep away from her?" Bradley was at a loss. 

"Well, firstly, have you ever tried to get Lucy to do something she didn't want to do?"

Bradley snorted. "Yeah..."

"Exactly. And secondly, have you ever felt so completely drawn to someone or something that even a parade of stampeding bulls wouldn't be able to keep you away?"

Bradley glanced sideways and Colin knew he'd felt that pull before. 

"Yeah. I'm not one for fate of destiny but meeting Lucy was written in the stars or something...she was all I could think about."

Bradley rolled his eyes. "Who are you? I don't even recognise you."

Colin tipped his head back a little and laughed. "I hardly recognise myself some days."

"When did it start?"

Colin tugged on his jacket and wrapped it around himself, the cool air making him shiver. 

"The day we were at the outdoor market...and I went back to the hotel...Lucy spotted me and we had coffee. And I kissed her."

Bradley's breath came out through his teeth. "Go on."

"Then you knocked on the door and I panicked. I pissed Lucy off by basically calling her a kid and she told me to fuck off."

Bradley allowed himself a vindictive smirk but it slipped immediately. "Didn't last though."

"No. That night in the club I apologised for being a twat. She told me in no uncertain terms that she wasn't letting me get away with it again."

"You took her back to the hotel that night." Bradley stated. 

"Yes."

"And you slept with her." It was a statement of fact spoken in a resigned voice. 

"Yes." Colin admitted quietly. 

"She was 17 Colin..."

"I know. Honestly, every reason why it wasn't a good idea went through my head. To be honest though, her age has never really been a factor. She's more mature than me a lot of the time. And she is so clever and driven and ambitious. The biggest cause of upset has always been keeping it a secret. Neither of us got any pleasure out of lying to people, least of all you."

Colin stuffed his hands into his pockets and waited for Bradley to speak. When he didn't Colin sighed. "I understand you're angry. I can take it. But Lucy needs you. You're her big brother. Her protector. She needs you. Go to her. Please. Talk to her."

Bradley sniffed back a tear. "I need some time."

"Alright."

"That day in France...when you flipped out because you missed her so much..."

"Yeah."

"You went to see her."

"Yes."

"Why did you break up?"

Colin closed his eyes tightly and tried to focus his emotions. "I almost told her I loved her. It was on the tip of my tongue. She knew what I was going to say and she stopped me. We both knew once we admitted it then all bets were off. We'd have to come clean and the thought of telling you the truth after lying for a year was too much. Lucy said she wasn't going to be responsible for you losing your friend and potentially your job if we couldn't work together. The time had come to own up and we couldn't do it."

"You broke up with the person you loved because of me?" Bradley clarified. 

"Yes. Honestly. Yes. And it fucking killed me."

"You were a mess. For weeks. We didn't know what to do for you. How did you live like that?" Bradley asked in amazement. 

"I dunno." Colin shrugged. "It was like my heart was being ripped out of my arsehole. A broken heart actually feels like a pain in your chest. I never knew that."

"And Lucy was going through the same..."

"Apparently so. We hadn't been in touch until I texted her on her birthday. I wish I'd known. Those weeks we weren't together were the worst of my life but she was dealing with much worse." Colin mumbled. 

Silence fell over them once again and Colin stood up, pulling his jacket tighter to his body. 

"Still need more time?"

Bradley nodded once. 

"Alright. I'm going back to Lucy now. When you want to talk to her I'll leave. Until then I'm staying with her." Colin warned his friend. 

Bradley just stared straight ahead and Colin went to move away before stopping. 

"You know...neither of us is ready to be parents and Lucy thinks this is God's will or something...but I would've been the best dad in the world. Lucy would've been the best mam. Don't leave it too long to see her. I meant it when I said she needs you. Her baby died today."

A tear slid down Bradley's face and Colin left him alone on the bench. 

 

Janet came back from the canteen with a coffee and found Bradley hovering outside of Lucy's door, peering through the glass. She followed his gaze and smiled softly when she saw Colin had kicked off his trainers and climbed onto the bed. His body curved around Lucy's and his arm snaked around her fragile body, holding her close to him. His lips were pressed to her crown and his spare hand was holding hers with fingers tightly interlaced. Lucy's eyes were closed but a tiny, peaceful smile lit her face. Colin was murmuring unheard words to her and she nestled closer to him. 

"They're in love Bradley. You need to come to terms with that." She told her son. 

"They lied to me. For so long." He replied stubbornly. 

"Yes. I know. And it was wrong. But you're partly to blame for that. You make her life hell when she does something you don't like or can't control. You've been her father figure for half her life but you forget that you're her brother and she doesn't answer to you." Janet said bluntly. 

Bradley turned to face his mother, ready to argue. The fight drained out of his body when he saw her face. Pale face, red-rimmed eyes and tired wrinkles. This was his mother and she'd nearly lost her child. She'd already lost her first grandchild. 

"I'm sorry Mum. I was just so scared." He blurted. 

Janet wrapped her son up in her arms and held close. "I know love. She's still Lucy. I know we all want her to be a kid forever but she's not. She's grown up and she's living her life. And she's fallen in love with a really great bloke. You know he is, because you brought him into this family first."

Bradley stepped back and watched through the window. Colin now had his eyes closed too and Lucy was breathing evenly. They were asleep. 

"He was a total mess when he came back to France." He told his mother. 

"You need to support them. They're going to need it. You finding out about them isn't the biggest thing they've had to face today. It's very easy to say they weren't ready to be parents and make it sound like this was for the best...but pretty soon they're going to realise that they have lost their child. It's going to hit them soon."

 

Lucy woke up to Colin extracting himself from her arms. 

"Col..." She murmured sleepily. 

He kissed her brow tenderly. "Bradley's here."

Her eyes opened and she looked stricken. 

"I don't want to fight..."

Colin smiled softly and cupped her face. "I know love."

Bradley stepped closer to the bed. "I don't want to fight either."

Once Colin was on his feet and slipping his feet into his trainers he headed to the door. 

"I'll see you soon."

With a pleading glance at Bradley he left the siblings alone. 

Bradley sat next to the bed and just gazed at Lucy. She was very pale with dark shadows under her eyes. 

"How are you?" He asked, finally. 

"I've been better." She gave a brief half-smile. 

He returned it before his expression clouded over again. "I wish you'd told me."

"I wish that too. Having you find out like this was the absolute worst thing I could imagine. I want you to know...I'm sorry."

He nodded once. 

"Don't hate Colin...he tried his best to keep away. He never wanted to hurt you."

Bradley sighed. "That's what he said about you."

"It's true. We just...gravitated towards each other I suppose."

"I just feel so stupid Luce. I thought I knew you. I thought I knew him. But it turns out I don't."

Lucy reached for his hand and he reluctantly let her take it. "You do. This is just one part of us."

"Something like falling in love...that's the kind of thing best mates talk about. Colin didn't." Bradley argued softly. "I might not want to hear about you falling in love but I definitely want to hear about him."

"Even with me?"

"Well."

"Can you honestly tell me if we'd been honest from the start you would be alright with it?" Lucy frowned. 

Bradley rolled his eyes. "No. I wouldn't. You were 17. He was 22."

"And if we said "yes Bradley, we know, but we kinda really like each other anyway..."?"

He sighed. "I'd be pissed off."

"We know. So we didn't tell you."

Bradley sat in silence and Lucy's eyelids dropped heavily. 

"You should sleep."

"I want to talk to you. I didn't think you'd ever speak to me again so I'm hanging onto this moment." She mumbled. 

Bradley sighed loudly. "Alright."

Suddenly, Lucy burst into tears. Bradley jumped with shock. 

"Hey! What? Lucy don't cry."

"I'm sorry. I've just made such a mess of everything." She sobbed. 

Bradley wavered for a second before he perched on the bed and gathered Lucy into his arms. 

"It's going to be ok." He kissed the top of her head. 

"I don't want you to hate me."

"I'm just angry Luce. I always thought we were close and this has rattled me."

She nodded against his chest. "I love you Brad."

"I love you too."

Lucy took some breaths to calm down and Bradley rearranged them so they were comfortable. 

"So...you were having a baby..." 

Lucy sucked in a breath. "Yeah. That was a colossal accident."

"Certainly didn't sound planned."

"Believe me, it wasn't. If I was having a baby with anyone it would definitely be with Col. But not now. Many, many years ahead of today."

"So you're ok?"

She released a shaky breath. "I think so. I haven't been able to stop myself from letting my imagination run wild. What would the baby have looked like? Our blonde hair and Colin's ears?"

Bradley chuckled. "God forbid."

"And stuff like...what Colin would be like as a dad. I think he'd be pretty great."

"Yeah. Me too. One day."

Another long pause ensued before Bradley huffed, almost impatiently. 

"He really loves you, doesn't he?"

"I hope so."

"No. He does. I knew he was completely arse over tit for the girlfriend I thought I knew about. When I look back...it was so easy to see."

"What do you mean?" Lucy frowned her confusion. 

"He's been so different. Happier I guess. I just didn't realise why. Especially on Wednesdays."

Lucy chuckled softly. "We had date night on a Tuesday."

"When he was in France? And Cardiff?"

"Yeah. We set up Skype and we'd have dinner together, talked about our week, just a normal date really." She told him. 

"Wow." Bradley exhaled. "That's...cute."

"Suppose so."

"Well. The things you learn." Bradley stated. 

"I have to work things out with him. You know that right? It might be that we don't work out. Grow apart. Whatever. But I have to try." Lucy told him in a quiet but firm voice. 

"I know."

"Do you think you can forgive us?" She whispered. 

Bradley sighed heavily. "I'm working on it."

 


	6. Moving In & Moving On

Lucy was discharged two days later and went back to her halls, much to her mother's despair. 

"Come back home, just for a little while..."

Lucy smiled and shook her head. "I need to pack up my room, find somewhere to live for next year. And I need to revise. I've got one more exam to take."

Janet sighed heavily. "You need to rest."

"I will. I promise. But life goes on and I have to do these things. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Lucy hugged her mum tightly. 

Bradley handed his mother a paper cup of coffee. "I'll be here to help. Don't have to be back in France until next Monday.” 

"Really?" Janet looked relieved. 

"Yeah. They rejigged the filming schedule. Me and Colin both have the week off. We'll make sure she's sorted." Bradley explained. 

Lucy tried not to smile at her brother actually referencing Colin in a sentence but it didn't work. 

"Alright you. I'm dealing with it, ok?" Bradley huffed. 

Lucy smiled sweetly. "Thank you."

Janet hugged her son and kissed his cheek. "This means a lot to me."

 

"You could always stay at my flat..." Colin said quietly as he stirred the pasta sauce in the pan. 

Lucy sat at the table in the kitchen with her laptop open, searching for reasonably priced accommodation. Which, in London, didn't seem to exist. She looked up with a frown of confusion, ignoring Bradley's open mouthed stare from his seat opposite her. 

"You let your flat out..." 

Colin nodded. "The lease finished a couple of weeks ago and I haven't renewed it. It's there if you want it. I know it's not exactly on the doorstep for uni but it wouldn't cost you anything."

Lucy considered it. The flat his grandmother had signed over to him a couple of years earlier was in Hackney, which was about 45 minutes away from her campus on the tube. That was manageable. 

"I would pay rent." She stated. 

Colin shook his head. "I don't want any rent. I only let it out because I'm never there to use it and I don't want it to end up run down. If you're there I'd know it was being well looked after."

"I should still pay rent." She argued. 

Bradley sat back and watched as they verbally jostled with each other. It was a side to both of them he rarely saw. Colin was usually so laid back and didn't argue the point. Lucy was the opposite. If she wanted to do something she would keep going until it happened. Seeing them come up against each other was fascinating. 

Colin tipped the penne into the pan of sauce and stirred it up. "I won't take your money. I don't need it and you do. You were saying not long back that you'd need to get a job to pay for accommodation when you left halls. If you stay at mine you might not need to get a job, or at least not so many hours, and you can focus on your studies. Call it an investment in your future if it makes you feel better."

"An investment in my future?" She raised her eyebrows. 

"Well sure. You do know you're going to be my personal legal counsel right?" Colin grinned and spooned the pasta into four bowls. He pulled the garlic bread out of the oven and placed it in the middle of the table. 

"Are you sure?" Lucy bit her lip. 

Colin chuckled. "Of course I am. Wouldn't suggest it otherwise."

He moved to the doorway and called out to the hallway. 

"Lori...dinner is ready..."

He sat beside Lucy and she leaned her head on his shoulder just as Lori bounced into the room. 

"Wow. Looks amazing Colin. Thanks. Hi Bradley. You alright Luce?"

They all shared a smile at her boundless energy and Bradley returned his attention to his little sister and his best friend having a Freaky Friday moment. Colin stood up for his point and Lucy backed down. It was bizarre. He watched as Colin pressed a kiss to Lucy's forehead and they all started to eat. 

"We can move your stuff in tomorrow."

Lori looked up. "You've got somewhere to live?"

Lucy smiled shyly. "I'm staying at Colin's flat."

Lori grinned broadly. "Awesome!"

Colin sipped his water. "There's another room if you want it? I'm hardly ever there so might be nice if you had each other."

Lori's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

Bradley coughed. "And where would you sleep when you were home?" He deadpanned. 

Lori, Lucy and Colin started to chuckle at his obvious joke and Bradley smirked in response. 

"That would be really great actually Colin. What's the rent like?" Lori asked. 

Colin waved his hand. "Just water my plants and keep the place tidy. That'll be fine."

Lori stared at Colin like he'd grown another head. "Are you for real?"

Colin nodded nonchalantly. "Sure."

Lucy pecked his cheek. "Love you."

Even Bradley couldn't be unmoved by the blush of Colin's cheeks as he smiled with contentment back at Lucy. 

"I just hope the walls at your flat are thicker than here." Lori added mischievously. 

Lucy and Colin stifled their laughs admirably but it wasn't enough to stop Bradley visibly turning green and pushing his bowl away. 

"Thanks for that." He scowled and Lori just giggled as she ruffled his hair. 

 

August 2009

 

"Colin...your phone's ringing." Angel yelled across the field where Colin was trying to finish his scene. 

He rolled his eyes. "Kinda busy here."

"It's Lucy."

Colin straightened up and dashed over to Angel, who handed him the phone. Bradley stood in his position waiting for Colin to deliver his next line and gaped after his friend. 

"He's so whipped." Santiago joked. 

Bradley nodded in amazement. "He really is. And I was worried about my sister..."

Santiago laughed his deep booming laugh. "Yeah right."

The director called out for a break so Bradley headed off for a drink at the catering trolley. Colin was perched on a chair nearby. 

"When do you get your results? That's good. Not too long to wait. I'm back then too. It's fine. I wanted to know. I'm glad it went well. Ok. Speak to you later. Yeah. Love you. Bye."

Colin hung up the phone and turned to Bradley, who handed him a bottle of water. 

"Thanks. Lucy's last exam went well. Gets her results on August 31st.

Bradley smiled. "Great."

"Sorry. Is this really weird for you? I don't want it to be weird." Colin sighed nervously. 

"It's a bit weird, yeah. But not the worst thing in the world." Bradley admitted. 

Colin smiled and his eyes sparkled. "Good."

 

August 2009

 

"You open it." Lucy thrust the envelope into Colin's hands. 

His eyes widened. "They're your results love."

"I know. But I'm nervous. I want you to do it. Come on. Then we can go and either celebrate or drown some sorrows." She instructed. 

Colin sighed and opened it up, scanning the page. A grin lit his face. 

"Congratulations. You officially passed your first year."

Lucy whooped excitedly and launched into her boyfriend's arms. Colin squeezed her tightly. 

"I'm proud of you."

She kissed him softly, her tongue teasing the seam of his lips before pulling away. "I'm so glad that's over."

The sun shone down on them as they stood in the courtyard of Westminster uni. Lucy had been a wreck all week and nothing Colin could say made her feel better. 

"How would you like to celebrate?" He asked her. 

She grinned wickedly. "I can think of a few ways."

Colin laughed happily. "How about we get fed first?"

"Good idea. You'll need your strength for what I've got planned."

Colin pulled her into his side and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Your imagination never fails to make my day."

They walked to the tube station huddled together, savouring the feel of each other after being apart for weeks. Once on the tube Colin was asked to pose for photos from a couple of diehard Merlin fans, one of which stared at Lucy dead in the eyes and asked Colin if that was his girlfriend. 

"Uh...yeah." He smiled shyly, secretly relishing the fact he could say that now. 

Lucy chuckled and reached for his hand. "You're so goofy. I love it."

Colin pressed his lips to her forehead. "I love you."

The fan girls cooed and almost missed their stop. 

"What do you want to eat?" Colin asked Lucy, as she rifled through his pockets looking for the random snacks he'd taken to carrying for when she got peckish. She triumphantly extracted a small packet of cashew nuts and opened them immediately. 

"Mexican food. I'm craving a full on spicy burrito with lashings of hot sauce." She grinned. 

Colin raised his eyebrows. "Full on spicy burritos and a sex marathon. That won't end badly at all."

Lucy giggled and buried her face in his neck. "Right now. If I had to choose. It'd be the burrito." She mumbled into his skin. 

He cupped the back of her head and held her in place, breathing in the scent of Lucy that he'd become so fond of mixed with cashew nuts. "I didn't doubt it."

 

Colin watched in fascinated amazement as Lucy heaped more and more hot sauce onto her burrito. 

"What?" She mumbled around a mouthful of the tastiest Mexican food Colin had ever tasted. 

"There's no way you're giving me a blow job later. The residual hot sauce alone will make it drop off." He stated dryly and Lucy started to giggle. 

"Really? I was kinda looking forward to the extra spice when you go down on me."

It was Colin's turn to giggle and Lucy stole one of his lime wedges to squeeze into her water. 

"You're not the only one that can talk dirty, Morgan."

His amused expression drifted into a contented smile. "I love that we can do this now. I love being with you."

She reached for his hand and held it. "Me too."


	7. Bradley’s Birthday

_ September 2009 _

 

Colin changed out of Merlin's costume and into his own clothes at the end of a very long day filming in Cardiff. He'd spent most of the afternoon shooting scenes with Richard so his face was aching from smiling for hours. He loved working with Richard. It was a masterclass every day and the elder man had taken Colin under his wing and become a parent figure. He was one of the first to pick up on the tension between him and Bradley, other than Angel, and gently coaxed Colin to talk over a pint of Guinness in the local pub a few days after he'd returned to work. Colin couldn't help but spill his secrets to the man he'd grown close to over the last couple of years. Richard listened in horrified silence until Colin was almost weeping. 

"I let him down." He finally finished. 

"Colin, darling boy, all you've been through these last few weeks...you think the biggest concern is upsetting Bradley? He'll get over it. You made a mistake. But Colin...you were going to be a father..." Richard sighed. 

Colin sniffed. "I know."

"How do you feel about that?"

"You know...only Lucy and her mam have asked me that..." Colin smiled sadly. 

"I'm asking you."

"I'm pretty gutted actually. If you'd asked me before I would've told you I was far too young and not ready for it. And Lucy is definitely too young. And we weren't in a position be a proper family. But when it happened...or didn't happen, as it turned out, I couldn't help but think how amazing it would've been. That's just the hopeful part of my brain though. Chances are it wouldn't work out like that. Lucy's only 19 and at university. She's far too bright to give that up before she's even started. I've just started out with my career and it keeps me away from home too long to be a decent parent. Our relationship wasn't even public. Bradley isn't the same with me anymore. It would've been too much pressure on us. This is how it was supposed to be but it doesn't stop me feeling sad."

Richard nodded slowly. "I expect so. Just because something happens at the wrong time doesn't mean you didn't want it to happen."

"Exactly. One day...God willing...it'll happen again for us. Lucy's the one I want to be with. To be a parent with. I hope one day when the timing is better we can do that." Colin smiled. 

Richard offered him a warm smile. "I'm sure you will darling boy."

Now, a few weeks later, Bradley and Colin were closer than they had been. Mostly, Colin assumed, due to the fact that Lucy was the most important person to both of them. They both loved her. That startled Bradley at first but now it warmed him. They were going for a pint and some pub grub in the local with Angel and Katie. When they arrived Angel hugged him and Katie waved over the top of her book. 

Bradley didn't even bother looking at the menu. He always ordered the Hunters chicken. Colin didn't need to look either. They only served one veggie option, pasta bake, and luckily it was delicious. 

"Can we order? I'm chewing my arm off here. Had to skip lunch to finish a scene."

"Kept forgetting your lines again?" Angel teased. 

Bradley rolled his eyes. "Couldn't get the bloody horse to stop wandering out of the bloody shot. It was doing it on purpose, I swear."

They ordered and settled with their drinks as they chatted about their day on set. Colin's phone beeped on the table with an incoming text. Bradley saw the name on the screen and felt the now-familiar mix of emotions he got when he thought about his sister's relationship with his best friend. Colin read the message and a frown of confusion twisted on his face. 

"You alright?" Katie asked Colin. 

"Lucy just asked me if I forgot to tell her I've got a cat..."

Bradley snorted a laugh. "She's joking right. You're allergic to everything."

Colin tapped a message back. "Erm...no?"

"You busy?" She replied. 

"Nope."

A minute or so later his phone rang with an incoming video call. He connected it and a second later Lucy came into focus on the screen. 

"Hi." He greeted brightly. 

"Hey." She smiled back. "So...recognise this little fella?"

The camera turned and the focus settled on a tiny cat with tiger stripes, sprawled on the rug in front of the fire in Colin's living room. 

"Never seen him before in my life. Why is he in my house?" Colin answered. 

"Well we asked him that but he wasn't very forthcoming with details and neither of us speak Cat." Lucy replied, panning the camera back around. 

Angel and Katie sniggered behind Colin. 

"You're going to have to get him out." He stated bluntly. 

Lucy pouted. "But he's cute and comfortable."

"And making me wheeze just looking at him." Colin added. 

"Ugh. I forgot you're allergic to everything fun in the world." She muttered, making Bradley laugh. 

"Not everything fun..." Colin joked with a wink. 

Bradley immediately stopped laughing and shook his head. "Always a step too far."

"He'll be gone by the time you get home." Lucy replied with a smirk. 

"Yeah. I know that face, love. He'll be gone five minutes before I get home."

"Sorry...you're breaking up...have fun tonight. Love you!" She mumbled before hanging up the phone.

Colin stared at the screen of his phone, displaying a background picture of Lucy smiling brightly, in a state of shock. "She is unbelievable."

Katie couldn't hide her grin. "She's so funny."

"She knows exactly how to play you." Angel added. 

Colin finally smiled. "She has since day one."

 

_October 2009_

 

"I'm not drinking. Got a test on Monday." Lucy told Lori when they walked into the pub near to Colin's place. 

They'd been living together in the quirky flat for a few weeks and it was working out perfectly. Colin was working in Scotland for a couple of weeks doing a play for the RSC and hadn't been around for a while. He was coming home for a week now before it was off to Cardiff to start the next season of Merlin. 

Bradley spotted them and waved, hugging them both with they made it to his table. Angel was there too, along with Tony, Santiago and Eoin. After the introductions were made Lucy went to the bar with Lori and ordered a cup of tea. 

"Oh my God! What's with all the beautiful men?" Lori gasped. 

Lucy chuckled and glanced back over to the table. It was fair to say they were a handsome group. "Anyone in particular?"

Lori smirked at her friend. "Well I wouldn't kick Santiago out of bed for eating biscuits."

Lucy giggled happily and the sound carried, making Bradley look over and smile softly. She paid for her drink and waited as the barman served Lori her glass of wine. Lori was a couple of years older than Lucy, she had already completed her degree and was now doing her Masters. 

 

Two hours later Bradley was well on the way to a very happy birthday. He turned 26 the following day and this gathering was in honour of that. Lucy sipped her second cup of tea slowly to make it last. 

"You got rid of the fur ball yet?" The Irish accent that made her stomach flip spoke from behind her. 

She bounced to her feet and leapt into his arms, oblivious to her brother sitting opposite her with all of his friends, most of whom were waiting to see how he was handling the situation now. 

"I missed you." Colin murmured. 

Lucy pressed her lips to his and kissed him gently. "Missed you too."

They extricated themselves so Colin could greet his work family, giving Bradley a firm man hug and feeling a sense of relief that his best mate hadn't reacted badly when he'd kissed Lucy. 

"Drink?" Colin asked around the table but everyone was fine. "Another cuppa?" He smiled at Lucy. 

"No I'm alright thanks. Had enough caffeine for today."

He stood up to head to the bar and pecked a kiss on the top of her head as he passed. 

Bradley sipped his pint and gazed shrewdly at his sister. "No danger of you two imploding anytime soon huh?"

Everyone paused their conversations as they waited for Lucy to blow up at her insensitive brother, but they were rescued from the blast when Lucy just started to giggle. 

"Nah. I'll keep him a bit longer I reckon." She joked. 

Lori lightly slapped Bradley's arm. "Stop being mean. You should be grateful she's got a decent boyfriend."

Bradley grinned. "I am. Deep, deep down inside me I really am."

 

Bradley woke up in an unfamiliar bed on the morning of his birthday with a fuzzy head. He glanced around without lifting his head and felt a twist of unease in his stomach. Lori was fast asleep beside him, facing away from him. He closed his eyes and thought very hard about the night before, trying to piece together what had happened and how he'd ended up in the bed of the girl he'd fancied for the last couple of months. 

"Stop thinking so loud. It's too early." Lori mumbled from beside him. She reached over and blindly patted his hair. "Happy birthday."

"Uh...thanks...um...did we?"

Lori snuggled into the pillow. "You think I undressed you, shagged you and then put all of your clothes back on?"

Bradley could've kicked himself. Of course they hadn't had sex. He was still fully clothed. 

"Sorry." He murmured sheepishly. 

"Don't be. Wouldn't have objected but you were so drunk you could barely raise a smile let alone anything else." She replied. "Can I sleep now? You snore really loud and you talk in your sleep. A lot. About Santiago. Which is weird."

"Sorry. Sure." He sighed and lay back. "You wouldn't have objected?"

"Not in theory. Be nice to take me on a date first though. I'm not a floozy."

Bradley couldn't stop the chuckle erupting in his chest. "Who says floozy these days?"

"I do. Sleep Bradley. Please." She yawned loudly. 

So he closed his eyes and went back to sleep. 

 

Colin stretched out his legs on his sofa and allowed Lucy to curl up in the space between his legs. It was mid-morning and Lucy needed to make a start on her revision so Colin offered to help. He held her text book up and read the section heading. 

"This looks heavy." He sighed. 

"Sex crimes are always going to be hard going but I need to nail this test." She replied. 

"Alright...let's get started."

They started off with some basic question and answers before it inevitably moved to a debate of sorts. Neither of them noticed Bradley standing in the doorway, frozen as he listened to his younger but so much more intelligent sister debating law with his best friend. 

"...the first time we ever had sex...did you give any consideration to my age?" She asked Colin. 

The Irishman nodded firmly. "Of course!"

"In what sense?"

Colin thought about it. "A few ways...my first thought was whether you were ready for it. Like, was it what you actually wanted or were you potentially just trying to act older to keep me interested..."

Lucy nodded once. "I get that. Was I mature enough to handle the actual act itself rather than just the idea of having sex. That sort of thing?"

"Yes. Exactly. I decided pretty quickly that if anyone was going to get emotionally fucked over it was going to be me!" Colin chuckled. 

Lucy smirked. "At that point, definitely."

"Then, I'm ashamed to say, I worried about what people would say if they found out I was having sex with a 17 year old. Would they look at me badly? Think of me as a paedo?" Colin confessed. "I say people, but really it was Bradley I worried about. It would crush me to know he thought badly of me or thought I'd taken advantage of you."

Lucy nodded again. "I understand that too. Age is a very black and white thing for some people. You say 17 and some people immediately think 'still a child' or 'easily influenced into sex' and I was absolutely neither of those things. How did you get past that?"

Colin shrugged slightly. "I wish I knew. Somehow, being around you, makes all of the voices in my head go away. The ones that were yelling paedo at me...gone when I kissed you. It just felt right."

Lucy smiled warmly and squeezed his hand. "For me too."

Colin brought her hand up to his face and brushed his lips across the back. "I love you."

"I love you too. But you know...being in love doesn't make it legal...and that's what I need to get sorted in my head." She tapped the book. 

"Yeah."

"So...that night...in my hotel room...things were heating up...you worried that I wasn't emotionally mature enough and you worried that people, Bradley, would look at you like you were pond life...but you never once considered that you could go to prison?"

Colin visibly paled and he gulped. "I could?"

Lucy grinned. "Did you check the age of consent in France before you got in my knickers?"

"Uh...didn't even cross my mind. You were very distracting though." Colin admitted. 

"That isn't a valid defence either. 'I love her and she distracted me with a killer blow job' wouldn't fly with a judge." She teased. 

Colin swatted her nose. "Did I seriously break the law?"

She shook her head. "Nope. Age of consent in France is actually 15. You could've been shagging me for over two years before you did and it would be completely legal. Now, if we'd been in LA at the time...you'd be really screwed. In more ways than one. Age of consent there is 18."

"Wow. I suppose I should've thought about that more." Colin frowned. 

"Just don't go seducing any teenagers in Hollywood." Lucy joked. 

"Are you implying I seduced you? Because I remember something very different entirely!" He laughed and stroked her hair. 

Lucy giggled. "I knew what I wanted and I knew you made me happy."

"Can you do something for me?" Colin asked her quietly. 

"If it's recreating that night you'll have to wait. I've got to revise." She smirked. 

"Argh man...go on...it'll only take five minutes...I popped off as soon as I touched you." Colin joked happily. 

Lucy giggled. "You made up for it in round two. So what do you want me to do?"

"Come to Armagh with me."

"Armagh?" She repeated with a confused frown. 

He nodded. "I want you to meet my parents."

It was Lucy's turn to pale and gulp. "Really?"

She knew that Colin had told his parents about her when it all came out around the time of her birthday but they'd never talked about meeting. 

Colin chuckled quietly. "Yes. They want to meet you too. After your tests, obviously."

Lucy nodded slightly. "Alright."

"Yeah?" Colin grinned. 

"Yeah. If you think we're ready, I'll go." She agreed. 

"Great. And don't worry. They'll love you." He leaned over and kissed her gently, cupping her face in his palm and stroking her neck with his thumb. He pulled away slowly and gave her a brilliant smile. "Ok...back to work..."

"Ok." She took a deep breath. 

"As a lawyer, what would you recommend to your client if they were in our situation in a country where the age of consent was over 17?" Colin asked her. 

"Simple. Deny, deny, deny. If nobody saw us and we didn't make a video there's no reliable witnesses. Your word against mine if I make a complaint, which usually they don't because even though illegal it's generally consensual. So deny it and the onus is on the prosecution to provide evidence. You don't have to prove innocence. They have to prove guilt." She answered. 

Colin's eyes widened comically. "You'd lie?"

"I wouldn't lie. I'd suggest my client admits to only the things they know can be proven."

"Lawyers. Scum of the earth." Colin joked. 

"I know. I couldn't be a defence lawyer."

"What's the plan? You got a speciality in mind yet?" 

Lucy sighed. "Not really. The more I get into criminal law the more I think I prefer corporate law."

"Yeah?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. I need another year before I choose so I might have an epiphany by then."

He nodded. "I still don't know what I want to be when I'm older."

"The beauty of your job means you can be anybody anytime." She tickled his ribs. 

"True. Unreliable though."

"You'll just get to stay home and look after all of the cats we're never gonna have!" Lucy joked. 

Colin tipped his head back and laughed. "I thought you were going to say kids..."

Her grin faded and Colin reached for her, pulling her closer to his body. 

"I'm sorry. That was a stupid thing to say."

"Of course it wasn't. I'm fine." She assured him with a smile. 

"We never really talked about it before...do you want kids?" He asked nervously. 

"One day, yeah. Not for a while though."

He nodded once and looked hesitant, but then spoke again with an anxious tone. "With me?"

She flashed him a crooked smile. "Yes Col."

He grinned broadly and leaned forward to peck her lips. "Good. Now let's get to work. I'd really like to do some other things today..."

"Like recreate our first night?" Lucy teased. 

"Yes. But ideally not go off like a 13 year old having his first wank this time."

 

"You shouldn't eavesdrop."

Bradley leapt in the air at the sound of Lori's whisper behind him. 

"You always hear things you wish you'd never heard." She added as she walked past him and into the kitchen. He quietly followed her with a sour expression. 

"You mean like finding out my sister gives killer blowjobs? Or that my best mate pops off like a school boy when he's with her?" He scowled and switched on the kettle. 

Lori smirked. "Yes. Exactly those things. Not ideal."

"Ugh."

"They're young and in love. Of course they're having sex. If you remove the fact that you're related to one of them it's not that weird. And probably not too far from what you were like five years ago..." Lori replied to his sulk. 

Bradley had the decency to blush. "I suppose you're right."

Lori filled their cups with hot water and stirred up the coffee. "She's happy Bradley. That's what you want for her, right?"

He nodded slowly and took the cup from her with a thanks. 

"It's like I'm getting to know her all over again. Is that strange? She's turned into this amazing, intelligent, articulate woman and I can't help get the feeling Colin is involved in this awakening in her. Like she's found some inner peace."

Lori reached over and ran her fingers through his ruffled blond locks and smiled, before pulling away and leaving the room silently. After a beat Bradley followed her, along the hallway and back into her bedroom and watched as she crawled back into bed. 

"Go on a date with me." He blurted out. 

Lori cocked her eyebrow in his direction. "Are you asking me or telling me?"

Bradley smiled shyly. "Whichever gets me the date."

Lori chuckled. "Fine."

"Tonight?"

"It's your birthday. Don't you have plans?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Pick you up at 7?"

Lori yawned. "Sure."

Bradley grinned, quietly happy that she wasn't making a big deal out of him asking her out. He watched as she sipped some coffee before nestling into her blankets. 

"You just going to stand there?" She mumbled. 

"Don't really know what to do with myself."

Lori lifted back the covers on her bed. "Tell me about your best birthday..."

 

"You don't mind?" Lori bit her lip anxiously. Lucy's gave her a huge grin. "No! 

Lori gave a relieved smile and popped a piece of raw carrot into her mouth. She had just told Lucy about Bradley asking her out and Lucy seemed thrilled. Colin smacked the back of her hand lightly when she reached for more carrot.

"It'll be ready in ten minutes." He smirked. 

Lori had lost count of the number of times Colin had made a meal for her over the time she knew him. His food was delicious. 

 

Lori invited Bradley in for a cup of tea after their date, which had gone very well, and he followed her into the flat. They heard the tv on in the lounge and Bradley knew straight away that Dinnerladies was on. Colin had a professional crush on Victoria Wood. He wandered along the hallway and stopped at the open door. The room was dark but the tv gave off enough light to let Bradley know exactly what was happening. Colin's jeans were open and pushed down low on his hips, Lucy's hand was inside his pants and moving rhythmically. Colin's mouth was working on Lucy's neck and his hand was up her top. Her head was thrown back in pleasure and she made quiet moaning noises. 

"Christ Lucy...you're killing me..." Colin mumbled into the skin of her throat. 

"Ugh fuck me." Bradley muttered. 

Colin and Lucy sprang apart. 

"What the fuck? Bradley?" Lucy yelped in dismay. 

"Didn't need to see that." Bradley scowled.

"See what?" Lori asked as she appeared behind him in the hallway. She took in their state of undress and gave a chortle. "Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

"What are you doing here Bradley?" Colin growled as he zipped up his jeans. 

"Cup of tea." 

"Ever think of knocking?" Lucy muttered. 

"Ever think of not fucking on the sofa?" Bradley retorted. 

Colin glared at his friend but Lucy beat him to a retort. 

"Listen to me, you irritating fuck. This is my home. This is Colin's home. If we want to fuck on every surface within these walls we absolutely will. Do you hear me? You don't get to just walk around here bitching at us like we're doing something wrong. Ok?"

Bradley looked sheepish and Lori was stifling her giggles behind her hand. "Yeah." He said. 

"Good. Now because it's your birthday I won't kick you out. I assume you're still trying to impress Lori...though God only knows why she's interested...so we'll go to bed." She took Colin's hand and pulled him out of the room. "Good night?" She asked Lori as she passed in the hall. 

Lori smiled widely. "Not bad thanks. Not as good as yours though."

Lucy winked. "Still early."

Colin and Bradley stared at each other in silent shock before Lucy tugged on Colin's hand so he followed her into their room. 

 

Colin flopped onto the bed and sighed. "Your brother is a menace."

Lucy climbed onto the bed and straddled her boyfriend. 

"Your best mate is a menace too." She added. 

Colin grinned and gripped her waist, moving her against his crotch. His softened erection came back to life pretty quickly, which was a relief to Colin. When Bradley had walked in on them his balls jumped so high into his body he feared he'd never be able to have sex again. His logical brain knew having a sexy teenager writhing on his lap was always going to make his 23 year old cock spring to life!

"Oh good. He's alive." Lucy grinned, leaning to kiss Colin's pouty lips. 

"It was touch and go." Colin replied with a grin. 

"I really need you to fuck me." She stated bluntly. 

"That's a coincidence. I really need to fuck you too." He responded, peeling her t-shirt over her head and feeling his eyes widen when her bare breasts were revealed to him. 

"Come here." He pulled her down so he could pull a nipple into his mouth. He sucked hard and Lucy arched her back, groaning deeply. Colin ran his fingertips down her sides and across the base of her spine. His mouth released her nipple with a soft pop and he looked up at her, his eyes shining in the dim light of the bedroom. Lucy gazed at him steadily and cupped his face, her fingers teasing the scruff on his face. He was only clean shaven when he was Merlin. 

"You're so beautiful Lucy." He murmured reverently. 

She pressed her hand to his chest and felt his heart beating against her warm skin. "You make me so happy Colin. I'm so grateful we made it through." She whispered. 

He smiled, his whole face lighting up. "Me too."

And just like that the mood changed. The need to just connect had overwhelmed the need to fuck. Colin moved slowly, stripping Lucy of her clothes and laying her down to worship her body. He made love to her slowly, setting alight every nerve ending in her body until she was gasping for release. When it came it hit her like a train, pulling Colin along with it. 

 

"They always like this?"

Bradley looked like he could be sick, the noises coming from his sister's room finally coming to an end with their obvious climax. 

Lori chuckled and passed him his cup of tea. 

"First time I've heard them since we moved in. I think she's punishing you."

"It's worked. I feel ill." He confirmed. 

Lori sipped her tea. "You just found out that your best mate rocks your sister's world. Not the birthday present you hoped for?"

Bradley laughed quietly. "No. But it's been a pretty decent birthday on the whole."

"I'm glad." She smiled. 

"Can I see you again?"

"You see me regularly as it is."

Bradley rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Just us, I mean. Another date."

Lori nodded. "Sure."

The tall blond smiled as he leaned down to press a chaste kiss on Lori's lips. "Ok."

She took his empty cup and put it in the sink before turning to show Bradley out. He grabbed her shoulders and kissed her firmly, his tongue begging for entrance. She opened up to him and they snogged like teenagers against the kitchen cupboards. Finally Lori pulled away, her lips plump from the kissing. "Wow."

"I think our next date should be breakfast. Tomorrow morning." Bradley mumbled, his hands meshing in Lori's hair. 

"Good shout." She agreed and kissed him again. 

"Bedroom?" He gritted out. 

Lori pulled him down the hallway to her bedroom, closing the door to the world.

"You need to be quiet." Lori told him. 

Bradley raised an eyebrow. "As quiet as them?"

"Quieter." She warned, lifting her shirt over her head. 

"My lips are sealed." He promised and dragged her onto the bed with him. 

 

Colin woke up from his doze to the sound of bed springs creaking. Lucy giggled into his neck. 

"Their date went well." She murmured. 

Colin hugged her closer and pulled the blankets over their heads. "Happy for him. Maybe he'll be more interested in his own sex life now."

Lucy reached down and stroked Colin's flaccid cock, squeezing as she pulled back and forth. "And you can focus on yours."

"You have to be up in six hours for your test." He warned, his hands making a little trip of their own. 

"Good thing I can make you come in minutes then." She grinned and moved down his body until his cock was in her mouth, going harder by the second. 

"Argh fucking hell Lucy. You have a fucking sexy mouth." He groaned and stroked her hair away from her face. She released his cock and moved lower to suck his balls into her hot, wet mouth until his hips bucked with his control. Her mouth moved lower again and Colin gasped at the sensation of her tongue probing the velvet skin beyond his balls. 

"Lucy...Jesus Christ...that's...oh..." He lost the ability to make coherent words when her tongue flickered against the pucker of his arse. She applied pressure until she could get the tight ring of muscle to relax and her tongue moved inside. Pre-come leaked from Colin's cock more than ever before and Lucy used her hand to pump his shaft with his natural lubricant. With her spare hand she pushed his legs further apart made room for her to delve deeper. Once he was opened up enough she slipped her finger inside him, curling and searching for his sweet spot. With one hand jacking his shaft, her lips pressing kisses to his balls and her finger inside him he was a mess. On the edge of coming harder than he ever had in his 23 years. Nobody had ever done this to him before. Nobody had ever taken him apart like this. He was completely at her mercy and he fucking loved it. Then she found it. The bundle of nerves inside him that she'd been gently searching for. Her fingertip stroked once, twice and on the third brush he was coming hard, shooting his load all over his stomach and chest. 

"Fuck!" He yelled, unable to control the outpouring ecstasy he was feeling. His body went limp as he fell back into the soft pillows. For a full minute all he could do was gasp for air, his lungs burning with the need to breathe. 

"Where the fucking hell did that come from?" He finally choked out. 

Lucy sat up and flashed him a teasing grin. "Did you enjoy it?"

Colin glanced down at his body, his come splattered over his tight abs. "Fuck yes."

"Your accent gets thicker and you swear more when you're turned on." Lucy noted with a grin. 

"Turned on? I need to invent a new word for that. Jesus Lucy..."

"You really want to know?"

"Yeah."

Lucy began to speak as she used some tissues to clean Colin up. 

"There's a guy on my course. Marcus. He's gay. We were all in a revision seminar last week and the group ended up talking about stuff that had no place in a revision class! Anyway, the topic of sex came up and the point was Marcus reckons straight couples could learn a lot from gay couples when it comes to turning things up in the bedroom. So I thought I'd give it a go. Didn't know if I was doing it right and I didn't do any research but it seemed to work out fine."

Colin stared at Lucy like he was seeing her for the first time. "All this time and I didn't know my girlfriend was so kinky."

Lucy giggled and pecked a kiss to his ribcage. "Just a little bit kinky. Was it ok? You didn't mind me using you to experiment?"

"Consider me your own personal lab rat." Colin joked. 

"Ok...I need to sleep..."

"I didn't get you off." Colin pouted. 

"You can owe me one." She grinned and curled up into his side. Colin was about to argue but his post-orgasmic state prevented him from speaking. 

"Love you." He mumbled sleepily, but Lucy was already snoring softly. 

 

Bradley, in his own post-orgasmic state, lay back and closed his eyes in distress when Colin's very loud and obvious climax reverberated through the walls. Lori didn't make a sound but her body shook with laughter. 

"I have no words." Bradley exhaled. 

"Goodnight Bradley. Happy birthday." Lori pecked his lips and rolled over to go to sleep. 

 


	8. Festive Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 🚨 Heavy smut warning 🚨

_December 2009_

 

"We finally made it!" Colin flashed Lucy a gorgeous smile as they made their way out of the airport arrivals area at Belfast airport. The plan to visit Colin's family had taken quite a while to come to fruition as the filming in Cardiff was extended by a couple of weeks, which then overran into Lucy's exam time. Now it was the week leading up to Christmas and they were finally in Northern Ireland to meet the Morgan family. They were having an early Christmas before heading back to London on December 23rd and having Christmas together. Janet was going to spend Christmas in Sweden with her best friend and Amelia was working in New York for a few months so they were keeping Christmas simple. 

"You ready?" Colin reached for Lucy's hand and pulled her into his side. 

She looked up at him, her eyes dancing with nervous tension. "Uh...yeah..."

"Good. Because my brother is standing over there." Colin grinned and led her over to a man that looked very much like Colin with the exception of being around four or five years older. 

"Neil!" Colin beamed and released Lucy's hand long enough to embrace his big brother. "This is my Lucy."

The elder Morgan smiled widely at Lucy and hugged her briefly. "Pleasure to meet you Lucy."

"And you. Colin's told me lots about you."

"Don't believe a word of it. He lies for a living." Neil joked. 

Lucy chuckled. "And he does so very well."

Colin slipped his hand back into Lucy's and they headed out into the freezing cold Belfast air. Neil led them to his car and they piled inside. 

"You're looking skinny." Neil stated bluntly. 

Lucy shot Colin a look of terror, which made the Irishman laugh. Neil regarded his brother with a frown. 

"Don't worry. He's talking to me." Colin assured Lucy. 

Neil tutted loudly. "As if I'd tell a woman anything about her weight. I'm not feckin stupid."

Lucy couldn't hold back the giggle and leaned into Colin. "He's the funny brother I assume?"

"Too right." Neil grinned. 

Neil and Colin shared a look through the rear view mirror and Neil winked. Colin knew he liked what he'd seen. 

"So you're Bradley's sister..." 

Lucy smiled widely. "I am. Have you met him?"

"Few times, aye. He's a good lad."

"He has his moments." Lucy agreed dryly, making both the Morgan brothers laugh. 

 

The Morgan family welcomed Lucy with open arms, particularly by Colin's mother who held her tightly and couldn't speak for a few moments. Colin had already told Lucy that he'd confided in his family when she'd been in hospital. 

"You're ok?" Bernie Morgan whispered in Lucy's ear. 

Lucy's eyes filled up and she nodded. "I'm ok."

They hadn't really considered the sleeping arrangements in the three bedroom semi and Colin had pondered over the possibility his parents decided to be good Catholics and make him sleep on the sofa, knowing full well that they were obviously sleeping together at home. His fears were misplaced and his mother informed him that his old bedroom was ready for them. 

"Just behave, yeah?" She winked. 

Colin blushed and laughed. "Not a problem."

With that out of the way they all relaxed and headed down to the local pub for food and drinks. Lucy was introduced to everyone in the village and by the end of the night her head was swimming with names and faces. She crawled into bed at 1am and snuggled into Colin's warm body. 

"You alright?" He pecked the top of her head. 

"Fine. You?"

"Better than fine. Amazing. I'm so glad you're here."

"Me too. Never gonna remember all those names though." She chuckled into his neck.

Colin grinned in the dark and stroked her hair. "I've never introduced a girl to my family and the whole village before."

"No?"

"Nope. Never really had a proper girlfriend like." He added with a snort of a laugh. 

"The girl behind the bar didn't seem happy to see me..." Lucy said softly. 

"Carrie? Known her all my life. She was Neil's first girlfriend when they were about 12."

"Think she's harbouring a bit of a crush." Lucy replied with a smile. 

Colin turned his head and kissed her face, aiming for her lips in the dark and finding the spot just below her left eye. "She's going to be disappointed if that's true. I've only got eyes for this girl from Devon."

"Oh really? What's this girl from Devon like?" Lucy giggled. 

Colin ran his fingers across Lucy's shoulder. "Ah God she's amazing. Beautiful, inside and out. And crazy. She makes me laugh every day. She's so smart, makes me feel a bit thick but so proud that she's achieving great things. She's laid back too. With my job I didn't think I'd ever find anyone willing to put up with the distance but she's brilliant about it. She makes time for me when we can and she doesn't make me feel guilty about not being around. She's independent. The truth is...I just fucking love the bones of her."

A tear ran down Lucy's face and landed on Colin's bare chest. He stroked her hair lovingly. 

"She loves you too." Lucy mumbled. 

 

Snow fell from the grey sky when Colin and Lucy arrived back in London. They did their last minute shopping and stocked up on Christmas treats for their first proper Christmas together. Bradley and Lori were still tentatively dating but weren't planning on seeing each other over the Christmas period. Bradley was having Christmas Day with Colin and Lucy before heading to meet some football mates in Austria for a week of skiing. Bradley prodded the nut roast Lucy had made herself. 

"I'm not cooking a turkey just for you." Lucy stated firmly and passed him the stuffing. 

Bradley smiled tightly. "Of course not. Why wouldn't you stick to tradition for the sake of your only brother?"

"Bradley?"

"Yes Lucy?"

"Shut up."

Colin snickered into his hand. "Getting a real insight into a proper James Christmas here?"

Lucy smirked. "Oh you've seen nothing yet."

 

Bradley left to meet Lori for a drink in Soho at 7 so Colin and Lucy had the flat to themselves for the first time. They had a long bath together with candles lighting the room. Colin massaged her shoulders and kissed her neck. 

"This is amazing. Best Christmas ever." Lucy murmured. 

"Yeah?"

"Well...I got a tricycle when I was four that I really loved. That was a good Christmas. But this is just a little better." She exhaled and lay back against his solid chest. His hands circled her body and held her hips gently. 

"This is perfect." He agreed. 

"You got plans for new year?" She asked. 

"I wanted to talk to you about that...when are you back at uni?"

"January 10th."

"I'm leaving for Cardiff on the 8th. So we have a week together?"

"Yeah."

"Would you like to go on holiday?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. Somewhere not crazy hot. I can't turn up in Cardiff with a sunburnt glow for Merlin to explain! Just a few days for us to chill out, spend time just us." He nibbled her neck. 

"Sounds perfect! What about a cottage somewhere in the U.K.? I don't need to go abroad if you want to stay nearby."

"Great idea. Pack up some stuff and hole up away from the world. Just us." He sighed happily. 

"Let's leave now." She giggled. 

Colin's hands moved to caress her body. "I have something else in mind for right now."

"I hope it involves that thing prodding in my back." She breathed. 

"Definitely."

"Excellent. What would you like me to do with it?" 

Colin bit her neck then lapped at the spot to soothe it. "Climb on board."

"How about you put it somewhere a little different?" She suggested quietly. 

It was a bold move but one she knew Colin was curious about. Ever since her little experiment Colin had taken a lot more interest in that area. It hadn't gone further than a few furtive touches but Lucy wanted him to know if he wanted more he was welcome to take it. 

"Yeah?" He breathed. 

"If you want to. No pressure."

"I do...but this is more about you...are you sure?"

She nodded. "I'm just as curious. I've never done that before."

"Oh wow." Colin exhaled. "Neither have I. Here?"

"I figured we'd be more relaxed...but wherever you like really."

Colin scooped her in his arms and twisted her body to straddle his thighs. She instinctively grasped his erection and squeezed him. She knew her simple touch drove him crazy. 

"How do you want to..."

Lucy cut him off with a tender kiss. "Just do whatever feels natural." 

Colin sat upright and grabbed Lucy in a deep kiss. His hands cupped her backside and his fingers stroked and teased her crack. She exhaled heavily into his mouth and he felt more confident that what he was doing was ok. His finger circled her tight ring of muscle and slipped inside. She gasped, feeling the stretch. 

"Hang on." She murmured and reached for the pomegranate shower gel resting on the side of the bath. She squeezed some into her palm and lathered it into foam. Colin's eyes widened and he grinned. 

"Great idea Luce." He did the same and when he attempted to finger her again the intrusion was much less uncomfortable and Lucy gasped with pleasure. 

"Oh fuck that's good." She groaned. 

"Yeah?"

"Yes. I can't wait Col. I need you to fuck me."

If possible Colin got even harder. He lathered up his cock and lined up carefully. 

"You push back...set the pace." He kissed her face. 

Lucy rocked back and forth, taking in Colin's solid cock centimetre by centimetre. She couldn't take all of him but he didn't seem to mind. His upper body fell back against the bath tub and his head made a thunking noise. 

"How're you doing Col?"

"Died and gone to fucking heaven. This is amazing Luce. You feel so good. So hot. And tight. Are you ok?"

"Top of the world, my love." She grinned. 

"How does it feel for you?"

She rolled her hips. "So...full. In a really good way."

They moved slowly, revelling in the new sensations and pleasure they were discovering together. 

"I can't hold out much longer." Colin murmured. 

Lucy took his hand and guided it between their bodies, using it to grind against. He got the idea and rubbed her clit in time with their gentle thrusts. 

"Oh fuck fuck Jesus fuck." She chanted quietly. 

"Oh my God." Colin joined in. 

They fell over the edge at the exact same time, clutching each other and shuddering in the tight embrace. 

"Jesus Christ I'm going to Hell." Colin groaned as he got his breath back. 

Lucy giggled into his shoulder. "I'll be right there with you."

"Thank God. I don't think I'd last a day without you."

Lucy stroked his face and kissed him gently. "I love you Colin Morgan."

"I love you Lucy James."

"Let's get cleaned up and go to bed. I need a cuddle." She smiled sleepily. 


	9. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 🚨 More smut. My bad. 🚨

_January 2010_

 

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Colin. Happy birthday to you!" Lucy sang softly as the midnight chimes faded into the background on the tv as they kissed. 

"Thanks love." He grinned. "Happy New Year."

"24 years old. Wow." She teased. 

"I know. Old man eh?"

"My old man." She kissed him again.

"Always." 

"You mean that?"

Colin gazed at the love of his life and nodded. "Yeah. I really do."

They sat in the cottage listening to the wind howl outside, grateful to be spending this time together in very rural Wales. 

"You don't feel tied down too soon?" She asked quietly. 

Colin snorted a laugh. "Surely I should be asking you that!"

She shook her head. "Nope. I'm good."

"I'm good too." He agreed. 

"So, you want your present now?"

Colin chuckled. "You didn't need to get me anything."

"You don't really get how birthdays work do you?" She giggled and reached for a box that she'd hidden behind the sofa. 

"Thank you." He smiled warmly and lifted the lid. His eyes widened when he saw the treats inside. Vegan chocolate, a new beanie hat and two tickets to see Death Cab for Cutie at their Cardiff gig in February. 

"Oh wow!" He gasped. "Luce this is amazing!"

She smiled happily. "I got Bradley to help make sure you're available that night. He cleared it with the crew for you boys to have the night off and a late start the next day. He knows all the details."

"You're not coming with me?" He almost pouted. 

She shook her head sadly. "I'm on a work placement in Kent that week."

"Ooh tell me more..." Colin pulled her into his arms and held her close as she chatted about her placement. 

 

"So this is where the magic happens?" Lucy grinned and bounced onto Colin's hotel room bed. The smile on the Irishman's face was enough to light up the dull room. 

"This is where the sleep happens." 

Lucy had travelled to Cardiff with Colin for a couple of days before he started filming again. The majority of the cast were meeting up early to catch up and have a gathering before he heavy work started. Lucy wasn't back at uni for a couple of days so she tagged along.  Soon enough, Colin's friends began to drift into his room to catch up with him and they all greeted Lucy warmly. Katie and Angel arrived a little later with armfuls of magazines and sweets and a bottle of prosecco. Eoin, Tom, Santiago and Bradley were all there now too, cramming into every available space. Lucy crawled into Colin's lap and his arms encircled her hips under the pretence of making more space but really just giving in to their need to always be touching. 

"Oh my lord. Hilarious." Angel giggled at a page of her magazine. 

"What?" Bradley asked, looking up from his phone where he was clearly texting Lori. 

"How sexually adventurous are you?" Angel read and held up the page to show him. "You say yes or no to the questions and the more yes answers the more kinky you are."

"We should totally do that!" Katie gasped. 

"Oh hell no!" Bradley retorted. "No way!"

Katie tilted her head and frowned at him. "Since when are you a prude?"

Bradley flushed pink. "Since my little sister started shagging my best mate."

Lucy stifled a giggle but Colin didn't find it funny. 

"Hey. That's my girlfriend. Have some respect."

Bradley glared at Colin. "I could say the same to you! It's bad enough knowing you two are at it like rabbits but quite another to actually see and hear it!"

The room fell silent and gazed between the pair, amused and intrigued by their quarrel. 

"Are you still not over that? Jesus. It was ages ago..." Colin huffed. 

"And you walked in on us without knocking. You got what you deserved." Lucy added. 

Bradley was bright red. "Didn't stop you though! You knew I was there and you carried on making porn star noises all night!"

Eoin laughed loudly. "Really? This just got interesting!"

Tom leaned back against the wall. "Carry on."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "He's just being huffy. Anyone would think he didn't have a sex life of his own to worry about."

"Ah yes...how is the lovely Lori?" Colin chipped in. 

Bradley exhaled harshly. "Fine."

Angel coughed loudly. "Can we get back to the game?"

Tom shook his head. "Col and Luce won't play. You'll never get a couple to admit to what they've done with other people."

Colin's nose wrinkled. "Yeah I don't wanna hear that."

"Oh...make you uncomfortable would it?" Bradley muttered sarcastically. 

"Yup." Colin laughed. 

Katie waved her hand dismissively. "They just need to answer with stuff they've done together."

Lucy laughed at Bradley's face. "Sure."

Angel handed out more drinks and Eoin opened a packet of strawberry bonbons. "Ok. Show of hands for yes if you have...given oral sex to a partner."

Everyone in the room raised their hands. 

"Received oral sex from a partner."

Again, everyone raised a hand. 

"Had sex in the missionary position."

Another full house of hands. 

Doggy style, cowgirl, reverse cowgirl and 69 all got a full show of hands. Bradley was pointedly ignoring Lucy and Colin's responses and trying not to turn green. 

Angel burst into laughter before she spoke again. "Anal sex?"

Bradley caught the smirk Colin and Lucy shared as they debated raising their hands. 

"Don't you fucking dare Morgan." He blasted with a pointed finger. "There's a line you're about to cross."

Colin threw his head back and laughed. "Chill out. It's just a game."

The whole room was left in hysterics at Bradley's reaction. 

Angel coughed to regain attention. 

"Made a sex tape."

This time only Tom, Eoin and Angel raised their hands. 

"Angel Coulby! You dirty girl." Katie giggled. 

"And which website would one have to frequent to find such a thing?" Eoin grinned. 

"Www.nevergonnahappen.com" Angel replied with a grin of her own. 

Lucy leaned over to Colin and whispered so only he could hear. "I think I've found our next experiment."

Colin chuckled and high fived his beautiful girlfriend. 

Sex outdoors was very popular, along with sex in a bath, but nobody had experienced sex with somebody watching them. 

"Unless you count pervy Bradley walking in on his sister..." Santiago teased. 

"Trust me, I've paid the price. My retinas are scarred for life." Bradley muttered. "It was my birthday too..." He added sadly. 

"Let it go Bradley. We weren't even having sex. You got there just in time." Colin stated. 

"Yeah. You bloody cockblocker." Lucy added, making everyone roar with laughter once again. 

Bradley shook his head in dismay. "My baby sister everyone. Doesn't she make you proud."

Colin nuzzled Lucy's neck. "Oh yeah."

Lucy giggled and pecked his lips. Angel cooed at the adorable couple. 

"I'm glad you guys worked it out." She smiled. 

"Me too." Lucy smiled sweetly. 

The game finished with Colin and Lucy being confirmed as very sexually adventurous, which came as a shock to his cast mates. They knew Colin to be reserved and introverted but seeing him with Lucy made them realise they didn't know him like they thought they did. She brought something out in him and they liked it. Not surprisingly Eoin was also quite a high scorer in the game. He was young, free, single and fit so he was open to a little experimentation of his own. Everyone trooped out of Colin's hotel room and left the couple alone. 

"Your friends are weird." Lucy grinned. 

Colin pulled her into a deep kiss. "The weirdest."

"Wanna bang?" She smirked mischievously. 

Colin tipped his head back and laughed. "Oh yeah. And I wanna record it..."

Lucy's pupils dilated. "Fuck yes!"

"I'll get my camera." He winked. 

"You sure about this?"

"Why not?" He shrugged. 

"I dunno. It's just...well someone probably should've asked Kim Kardashian if she was sure..."

"You planning on uploading it to Pornhub?" Colin grinned. 

Lucy laughed. "Absolutely not! Not if I'm in it."

"Just for the record I've never made a sex tape before so any leaked recording will absolutely have you as my hot co-star." He told her. 

"I guess we'll just have to trust each other." She agreed. 

 

"Oh God. We look so hot together." Lucy bit her lip as they watched their sex tape the next night. 

"I look skinny and pasty." Colin frowned. 

Lucy snorted a laugh. "Well I hate to break it to you..."

He tickled her ribs. "You look fucking gorgeous and I look like...that."

She tilted her head and gazed at the tv screen. "Don't know how I can be any more clear about how turned on I am."

"I need to join a gym."

"You look amazing." She argued. "I mean...look at that arse. Perfection."

They sat in silence as they gazed intently at screen-Colin as he moved down screen-Lucy's body and began to eat her out. Screen-Lucy was writhing and moaning, pulling screen-Colin's hair and rolling her hips. 

"Oh." Lucy whimpered, wriggling on the bed to get some friction. 

"I want to do that again." Colin rasped from beside her. 

"God I'm so wet." Lucy muttered. 

Colin pulled on Lucy's middle until she was resting in his lap. His hand snaked into her knickers and stroked the damp flesh. 

"Fuck." He exhaled quietly and circled her clit with his fingertip at the same pace his tongue was working on screen, speeding up when screen-Lucy exploded in a blistering climax. 

Lucy whimpered and placed her hand over Colin's to slow him down. She wanted to make it last. Their recording lasted nearly an hour. 

"You are so beautiful." He mumbled into her neck. 

"Oh wow." Lucy gasped when their screen doubles shifted and Colin bit his lip to stifle a moan as he saw himself receiving a blowjob. 

"Looks almost as good as it feels." He sighed. 

"I love sucking your cock. You taste so good." Lucy replied softly. 

"Jesus." Colin shifted subtly to allow his throbbing erection have some friction at the base of Lucy's spine. 

On screen Colin had stopped Lucy before he came and he was now arranging her in position so he could fuck her. It was almost too much for the couple watching and Colin, with his hand still inside Lucy's underwear, felt a fresh release of wetness from her. His forefinger probed lower until it slipped inside her and she choked on a breath, pushing down on his hand. He mimicked his actions on screen once again, finger fucking her faster and harder as he did on the video. Lucy was wound up tightly in his arms and groaned when Colin stopped, just as he had on screen, and waited to see what was next. The couple on screen were getting to be quite acrobatic, with Colin bending Lucy over and pounding into her so deeply she was moaning loudly. After a couple of minutes Colin flipped her and fucked her hard from behind. 

"Shit that's hot." He exhaled, his finger brushing Lucy's clit and sending jolts through her.

"I know what happens next..." She murmured. 

"Me too. I think I might come in my pants."

Screen-Colin pulled out of screen-Lucy but gripped her hips to hold her in place before he lowered his head and lapped at her hole. His large hands parted her cheeks and his tongue circled the puckered flesh. The sounds on the recording were enough to make Colin leak in his underwear. Screen-Colin was tongue fucking her hole with talent he didn't know he possessed. He added fingers to the mix and Lucy was almost hoarse from crying out with pleasure. 

"You want me cock inside you?" 

Colin stared at the screen in amazement. When did he become this confident sex maniac? 

Lucy giggled in his arms. "You sound so much more Irish when you're horny."

"I talk utter filth when I'm horny too apparently." He joked. 

"I wish we'd filmed some close ups. This is awesome...but it'd be so much hotter seeing up close..." 

"You think this is our one and only sex tape? We're sooo doing this again." Colin replied. 

Their attention returned to the screen and they watched Colin making Lucy come by rubbing his cock on her clit while licking and fingering her arse. 

"Ah man." Colin rolled his hips into Lucy's back. "I'm ready to pop."

"Take off your pants. I want to blow you." She instructed. 

"You'll miss the end..." Colin frowned but unzipped his chinos dutifully. 

"You're right. Plan B." She resolved the issue by slipping out of her knickers and straddling his lap in a reverse cowgirl position so she faced the screen. Colin groaned hollowly as she sank down on his solid erection.  

"I love you." He mumbled, staring in awe as Lucy leaned forward and gripped his ankles for balance so he could see the screen ahead. She rocked her hips so he was lodged snugly inside her. 

"Oh wow." He stroked down her spine and gripped her arse cheeks. 

They both stared at the screen as the grand finale began. The couple in the video changed positions so Lucy was riding Colin. They copied the motion in reverse and within seconds Lucy was tightening her grip on Colin's ankles as she fought to hold her control. 

"Just let go love. Let me feel you come all over me." Colin pleaded. 

There was no holding Lucy back and she rolled her hips frenetically until it was too much and she snapped. Colin held her down on his cock as she shuddered and writhed on him and he tipped over the edge too. He couldn't seem to stop coming and he filled her completely. 

"Jesus Christ. Amazing." Colin uttered, feeling every ripple around his sensitive length. 

Lucy stretched back upright and twisted her body to smile over her shoulder. Her smile became a broad grin when she saw Colin's tousled hair and wide eyes. 

"You ok?" He asked her, his eyes rolling back when she lifted herself off him. 

She shuffled up to kiss him softly. "Great. We made an epic sex tape."

His face lit up with a tired smile. "Epic is not the word."

She stroked his jaw. "I love you. I love that I can be myself with you and you don't think I'm freaky or weird."

"Oh I do think you're freaky and weird. I'm just so glad I met you so I can be my freaky and weird self with you." He smirked. 

"We're a good match." She agreed. 

"I love you too." He pecked her lips. 


	10. Jessica Rabbit

_ February 2010 _

 

Colin and Bradley were completely drunk and swaying to the dying chords of Death Cab for Cutie's last song of the gig. 

"I miss this." Colin slurred, his arm around Bradley's shoulders. 

"Huh?" The blond tilted his head towards his friend. 

"It's taken a long time for us to be like this again...since...you know...I missed you." Colin mumbled. 

Bradley felt a sting in his throat. "I missed you too."

"I never wanted to fuck up how close we were. I hate that I did that." Colin added. 

"We're good." Bradley slurred his words too. 

"Yeah?"

Bradley cracked a smile. "I was worried you'd end up hurting my sister. Now I know."

"Know?"

"Know the truth. You two."

"Huh?" Colin frowned. 

Bradley hugged Colin tightly. "I see how you are. I wish to God I didn't have to know about the sex. But the other stuff. The stuff that matters. I see it and I know she'll be ok with you."

Colin smiled tiredly. "I love her."

Bradley nodded. "I know."

"Love you too, if it helps."

"Stop being a big girl Morgan." Bradley grinned. 

Colin responded by grinning brightly and pressing a sloppy kiss to Bradley's forehead, making the blond giggle. 

"Come on Cols...let's get properly pissed."

 

April 2010

 

Colin sipped the black coffee and winced, it was bitter and harsh but necessary to get him through the round of promo interviews he had lined up for the day. Bradley was sitting in the chair beside him with his own drink in his hands. Bradley was a tea drinker. 

"Morning. Thanks for coming in." The perky interviewer with wide brown eyes and wavy brown hair greeted the boys warmly. 

Colin was always ridiculously polite, even when he didn't feel like it. Bradley admired that about him. His best mate was a nice guy. They introduced themselves and learned Perky Interviewer was actually called Penny Irwin. Colin smiled inwardly at that. 

They fielded standard Merlin-related questions with stock answers they already had stored away in the back of their minds. 

Finally, Penny arrived at the place she'd wanted to be all along. 

"So working in Cardiff and France for eight months of the year doesn't leave a lot of time for romance..." She smiled slyly. 

Bradley shrugged. "That's the job. You either accept the requirements or you don't."

Colin smiled enigmatically. "You have to try to make the most of the time you have and not worry about the time that you don't have."

Penny nodded enthusiastically. "The Internet is awash with stories of your well-publicised bromance going to the next level. How do you deal with rumours about your friendship?"

Colin snorted a laugh. "They're just that...stories. As much as some people would like it to be true we're best mates. We can't decide to be gay just to please other people."

Bradley nodded along. "I love Col...the world knows that...but he's like the brother I always wanted. I ended up with two younger sisters so he fills that role to perfection."

Penny grinned. "Does it have any effect on the ladies approaching you? Put them off or turn them on maybe?"

Bradley couldn't hold back a snort. "Can't say I've noticed either way. Not sure I'd want to be with a girl that was strongly inclined either way to be honest!"

"I can say with 1 million percent certainty that my girlfriend gives zero consideration to mine and Bradley's bromance!" Colin laughed. 

Bradley curled his lip. "That would be so wrong!"

Penny homed in on the mention of girlfriends. 

"Oh?"

Bradley looked at Colin for confirmation he was ok talking about it and Colin shrugged, knowing Bradley would only take it so far. 

"Colin is sickeningly loved up with my sister, so any consideration to that sort of thing would be bizarre beyond belief." He stated. 

"You're seeing Bradley's sister?" Penny gaped. 

Colin smiled shyly. "Yeah."

"How lovely! Have you been together long?"

"A while, yeah."

"So your bromance is more like actual brotherhood?"

Colin tried to stifle his eye roll but didn't succeed. "He's my best mate in the world. We'll leave it at that."

 

June 2010

 

Bradley basked in the glorious Pierrefonds sunshine in between takes. They were back again and it felt like home now. He glanced at Colin and smiled at his friend. Colin was trying to finish off a scene with Richard and it wasn't going well. 

"Ok...take a break...ten minutes." The director yelled. 

Colin sagged with relief and yanked off the neckerchief that was now Merlin's trademark. "Thank fuck."

Bradley smirked as Colin ambled nearer. "You never used to swear this much Cols."

Colin rolled his eyes. "Not until I met your sister."

"She does have a colourful vocabulary." Bradley grinned. 

"Colourful? That's one word for it." Colin laughed. "But she's usually spot on."

They finished for the day shortly after and headed back to the hotel. 

"Pub?" Colin suggested. 

"Give me ten minutes to shower and change. I'll knock for you." Bradley agreed. 

 

Almost fifteen minutes later Bradley arrived at Colin's door and noticed it was ajar. As he got closer he heard his friend's familiar voice talking quietly, into his phone Bradley assumed, as he only heard one side of the conversation. 

"I'm supposed to be working...you'll have to sneak in...I'll leave a key at reception...a fake name? Are you kidding? Nobody knows you! Yeah I suppose you're right. Since Bradley outed me for having a girlfriend people keep trying to catch me out...just be discreet...I don't know, do I? I'm not in the habit of sneaking girls into my hotel room...comes with having a long term girlfriend you know. Yes. I know. I'll make an excuse. I really want to see you...stop it...don't make me horny when I'm going out...I don't want to be suspicious...alright. Yes...right. See you tomorrow Jessica Rabbit..."

Bradley stomped off to his room, livid with Colin for planning to sneak a girl into his room. When Colin knocked for him a little while later Bradley pretended to have fallen asleep and Colin went back to his room for an early night. 

 

Lucy giggled as Colin pulled her into his room and closed the door, pushing her against it and kissing her firmly. 

"Happy anniversary." She grinned. 

Colin smirked and nipped at her bottom lip. "I'm not sure it can be called an anniversary..."

"Anything can be an anniversary Colin. If you make the effort..." 

"Ok...well Miss James...allow me to treat you to a celebration of the two year anniversary of the first time you fucked my brains out."

Lucy threw her head back and laughed. "I did?"

"Oh yeah."

"And how are we celebrating?" She challenged with a smirk. 

Colin kissed a trail down her jaw. "I'm going to fuck your brains out."

"Give it your best shot Morgan..."

 

Bradley crept down the hallway when he heard Colin's door open and close. He hovered outside and strained to hear. 

"What are you doing?" Katie appeared, making Bradley jump. 

"Jesus woman! Wear a bell!"

Katie smirked. "Why are you lurking outside of Colin's room?"

Bradley scowled. "Because he's snuck a girl in there and I'm going to kill him..."

"Don't be ridiculous. Colin wouldn't do that." Katie huffed as though speaking to a child. 

"Well apparently Saint Colin isn't as saintly as he'd have you believe. I heard him talking on the phone yesterday about how they'd use a fake name to sneak her into his room. Now I've just heard him talking to someone in there. I want to know what he's playing at!" Bradley spluttered. 

Katie stared at him like he'd grown an extra nose. "Colin loves your sister. Like properly loves her. Some girl in make up tried to flirt with him the other day and he was completely oblivious!"

"What if it's her?" 

"What? Are you mental?"

Their hushed debate was punctuated by the sound of giggling from behind Colin's door and Katie's eyes widened. The giggles evolved into soft moans that were unmistakably sex noises. 

"I'm going to fucking murder him." Bradley growled. 

Before Katie could stop him Bradley was hammering on the door. 

"Get out here Morgan. I want to speak to you!" He yelled through the door. 

There was muttering and shuffling on the other side of the door and Bradley was growing impatient. 

"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR MORGAN!"

Finally it clicked open to reveal Colin in just a pair of boxer shorts and sex-rumpled hair. 

"What the fuck are you doing?" Bradley growled. 

"I was about to ask you the same question." Colin's accent was thick with annoyance. 

"I'm going to kill you, that's what I'm doing! Have you forgotten you have a girlfriend? Or are you just so fucking audacious that you're sneaking girls into your room under my nose? What about Lucy?" Bradley sneered. 

"It's none of your business Bradley!"

"Don't give me that!"

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?" A voice from behind the door shrieked. "Fuck off Bradley."

Bradley's eyes grew huge when he realised the voice belonged to his little sister, and his jaw dropped when she appeared behind Colin wrapped in a bed sheet. 

"Lucy!"

Katie exhaled the breath she'd been holding. "Don't want to play the 'I told you so' card so soon but..." 

"Of course it's me, you fucking weapon! You seriously thought Col would cheat on me?" Lucy snapped. 

Colin glared at Bradley. "I swear to God I am going to murder you in your sleep Bradley. I'm 24 years old...I shouldn't lose an erection this quickly! You're driving me crazy! What are you doing here?"

"I heard you...on the phone last night. Arranging to get a girl in here with a fake name..." Bradley stuttered. 

"I had to! Since Eoin shagged that nurse and didn't call her back we've all been banned from having overnight visitors!" Colin hissed. 

"But why didn't you tell me?" Bradley frowned. 

"Picture that conversation Brad..." Lucy rolled her eyes. "Lucy's got 48 hours free so I'm planning to sneak her into France and locking her away in my hotel room so I can fuck her senseless. See you in a couple of days!"

Bradley paled and Colin choked on a laugh. 

"Ugh." Bradley murmured. 

"I can't believe you thought I'd do that to Luce. Haven't you heard anything I've said? I love her, you moron." Colin shook his head. 

"Sorry. I just didn't want her to get hurt." Bradley sighed. 

Colin glanced at Lucy and sighed. "It's going to take me a while to get over the sibling-induced erectile dysfunction I'm currently experiencing. Wanna go to the pub with these guys for an hour?"

She grinned. "Sure."

"See you at the pub in half an hour. You're buying." Colin told Bradley. 

Bradley grinned broadly. "Ok!"

 

With Lucy safely back in London the Merlin adventure picked up speed. Everyone noticed how much more relaxed Colin was when they were filming. Bradley caught up with him in make up and handed him a coffee. 

"Morning Bradley." Chloe, one of the young apprentice stylists, smiled winningly. 

The blond flashed his trademark smile. "Hi."

Colin sipped his coffee. "Ah heaven. Thanks."

"No worries. You alright?"

"Yeah. Feel like we're getting somewhere."

Bradley nodded as Chloe got to work on Colin, applying stage foundation to his face. 

"You got anything lined up for when we're back home?" Bradley asked Colin. 

Colin waited until he didn't have a make up sponge in his face before he replied. "No work. Lucy's exams will be finished so I was thinking about taking a holiday with her. We haven't had more than a couple of days together for nearly three months."

Bradley nodded. "Sounds good. Where did you have in mind?"

"Don't know. Maybe Croatia? I'll ask Lucy where she would like to go. I'm not bothered as long as she's there." Colin smiled distractedly. 

Bradley chuckled. "You've got it soooo bad."

"Oh really?" Colin smirked. 

Chloe tutted at Bradley. "Leave him alone. I think it's sweet."

"Thank you Chloe." Colin smirked again. "My girlfriend appreciates my romantic side."

"My girlfriend appreciates my romantic side too. She appreciates that it exists only for her." Bradley replied with a casual shrug. 

"Ah so we're allowed to call her your girlfriend now?" Colin chuckled. 

"What else would she be?" Bradley frowned in confusion. 

Chloe smiled to cover her disappointment. "You have a girlfriend too?"

Bradley nodded. "Yes."

"What's her name?"

"Lori."

"Ah that's nice." Chloe smiled brightly. 

Bradley turned his attention to Colin. "I don't know where this idea comes from that I'm just messing around with Lori."

Colin rolled his eyes. "You never talk about her. You hardly seem to see her."

"I saw her two weeks ago." Bradley replied. 

"What? When?" Colin was stunned. 

"Just because you're ridiculously inept at sneaking girls into your hotel room doesn't mean everyone is! She was here for the weekend." Bradley revealed. 

Colin spluttered. "How didn't I know this?"

"I know you all think I'm some bumbling idiot but I do actually possess some basic skills. Like keeping secrets and being discreet. Remember those things Colin? You were really good at them once too..."

Colin shot Bradley a glare. "Yeah I remember. Sometimes wish it was back in the good old days."

Chloe sensed the tension in the room and rolled her eyes. "What's the problem here?"

Colin huffed a breath before staring pointedly at Bradley. "My girlfriend is Bradley's sister. And as much as he claims he's fine with it we all know he's anything but fine."

"Oh..."

Bradley shot Colin another scowl. "I AM fine with it!"

"So why do you make a big deal of it? And just the other day you thought I'd cheated on her and you were ready to kill me. Do you want me to date her or not?" Colin muttered with exasperation. 

Bradley stared at him. "You're right. I'm sorry. I was out of line when I accused you of cheating. I know you love Luce and would never hurt her."

Colin gazed in surprise at Bradley's apology. "Of course I do." He agreed. 

Chloe snorted with laughter. "You two are mental."

"Oh shush you...or I won't bring you anymore fizzy sour sweets." Bradley winked at Chloe. 

"You can't threaten me. I have the power to make you look terrible on tv." She rebuffed. 

 


	11. Theatre

_ July 2010 _

 

"Yes. Just like that. Harder. Oh God..."

Colin grinned and pressed his long fingers deeper into the soft skin of Lucy's back. His erection was almost painful as it pushed against the seam of his jeans but Lucy was enjoying the massage so much that he didn't want to ruin it by turning it sexual. 

"You are getting so lucky later." She mumbled. 

"But it's your birthday..." He joked. 

"And I know exactly what I want my main gift to be..." 

Colin rolled his hips and pushed his solid bulge into Lucy's thigh. "You want this?"

"Always."

His fingers worked their magic for a little longer before Lucy finally gave in and reached for the zip on his jeans. 

"Something you want, Miss Raven?" His Irish accent was teasing. 

"Yep. In my mouth. Now." She replied. 

Colin nearly expired as he removed his pants and Lucy took his tip in her mouth. 

"Argh Jesus fuck." He groaned. 

He didn't last long. He never did when Lucy's hot, wet mouth encased him and worked him into a frenzy. When she finished she flashed him a wicked smile. 

"Happy birthday to me."

"Indeed. No longer a teenager..."

"Is the novelty going to wear off for you now?" She smirked. 

"Ha! You think I have a kink for teenagers? Hardly. It's caused me no end of internal trauma."

"Good thing you kept it on the inside." She replied. 

Colin laughed and grabbed her around her waist, pulling her into his arms. 

"I love you."

Lucy stroked his face. "I love you too."

Colin lay back on the bed, pulling Lucy along with him. "I can't wait for next week."

Lucy sighed happily. "Me too. Ten whole days together, miles from anyone and nothing to do but whatever we want. It's going to be amazing."

 

August 2010

 

"Your shoulders are going to burn." Lucy told Colin and reached for the sun lotion. 

"Will you put it on for me?" He murmured sleepily from his spot lying flat on his stomach on his beach towel. 

The intense sun of Montenegro was blazing down on them and Colin's Irish skin was not going to last long. 

Lucy straddled his hips and sat on his backside, making herself comfortable so she could apply the cream to his bare skin. 

"Ungh." Colin moaned. "Amazing."

"Turn over and I'll do your front."

"Can't."

"What? Why?"

"I'll get arrested."

"Huh?"

"Boy Scouts could camp out..." Colin chuckled. 

"Oh Jesus. Really? From a bit of sun cream?"

"Well obviously not the sun cream...more the sexy girl in a bikini sitting on me..."

Lucy giggled and leaned down to press a kiss to the mop of dark hair on the back of Colin's head. In his downtime he didn't cut his hair and barely remembered to shave so he looked suitably rugged. 

"Stop wiggling on me. I'm actually close to coming here." He muttered. 

Lucy climbed off him and lay down beside him, Colin turning to face her with a wide smile and sparkling eyes. 

"I think this is the happiest time of my life." She whispered. 

"Mine too." He agreed. 

"What's the plan when you go home?"

"The Mojo rehearsals start next week, so I'll be in London until the end of August. Then the show runs for 12 nights. Then I head to France for a month. Then Cardiff for two months. And that takes me up until Christmas." He reeled off. 

Lucy smiled. "That's good...we can see each other a bit before I start my placement in September."

Colin looked wistful as he tried to smile. Lucy was going to work for a huge law firm based in Newcastle that dealt with shipping and naval law. It was an exciting time for her, but it meant they would spend even more time apart. 

"I'm going to miss you." She added. 

"Me too. But we've done long distance before. We can do it again." He smiled, leaning closer so he could press a tender kiss to her lips. "I love you."

 

They'd been home less than a day when Amelia rang her sister in hysterics. 

"You're in the news." She giggled. 

"What?" Lucy gasped. 

"You and Colin...you were papped on holiday. Everyone wants to know who the blonde girl is with Merlin on the beach."

"Oh fuck. It's starting." Lucy chuckled. 

"I think your boyfriend is officially famous." Amelia joked. "I'll send you the link."

 

Lucy showed Colin the Daily Mail website later that night. Colin didn't use social media so he remained oblivious to most things. His agent had alerted him early in the day that he was in the showbiz news but he hadn't bothered to look. 

"Oh wow...I forgot how gorgeous you looked in that bikini." He grinned. 

They gazed at the photos on the website with objectivity. Lucy wasn't always pleased with the way she looked but Colin couldn't help but feel lucky to have her with him. They'd captured them lounging by the pool, swimming in the sea, sunbathing and Lucy sitting on Colin's back to apply sun cream. Their gentle kisses and happy smiles were all there to see. It was as beautiful as it was intrusive. 

"Want to read the article? It's actually fairly accurate..." Lucy offered. 

"You read it to me." Colin replied, stripping off his clothes until he reached his boxers as he prepared to go in the shower. 

Lucy cleared her throat and averted her eyes from her hunky boyfriend. 

"Merlin star Colin Morgan, 24, was spotted enjoying a romantic sunshine getaway with his pretty student girlfriend on the beaches of Montenegro. The Irish actor, who plays the title role in the hit BBC prime time show, has been dating the younger sister of co-star Bradley James for some time. James, who plays Arthur, recently stated in an interview that Morgan was "sickeningly loved up" with his sister Lucy. These pictures show how true that statement actually is!"

Colin laughed. "Oh my God."

"You know you're officially famous when you make the Daily Mail showbiz pages." Lucy giggled. 

Colin leaned down and kissed Lucy on the forehead. "I'm going to wash off the dirt I feel for reading that crap."

"But I read it too..." Lucy pouted. 

A cheeky smirk lit Colin's face. "You'd better come for a wash too then."

 

September 2010 

 

"It's a bit weird seeing your boyfriend tied up to a jukebox in just his undies." Lucy mused when Lori asked her opinion on the play they'd just seen. 

Lori chuckled. "Bit weird seeing your landlord in the same predicament."

"I enjoyed it though. He's ridiculously talented." Lucy said with a smile. 

"Definitely. And I'm saying that even without sleeping with him." Lori said. 

Lucy giggled and tugged on her best friend's arm. "Come on...let's go backstage..."

 

Colin was wearing more clothes when they arrived backstage and he greeted them with a nervous smile. He was also slightly insecure about his work, although for the life of her Lucy didn't understand why. 

"Amazing." She kissed his lips briefly. 

Colin let out an almost silent sigh of relief. 

"Yeah?"

"Absolutely. You were incredible, the whole production was incredible. We really enjoyed it." She assured him. 

Colin glanced at Lori, who smirked in reply. 

"Would've been nice to have a heads up about the tightie whities though. That's an image I'm not getting rid of in a hurry."

Colin laughed softly. "Sorry. Didn't want to put you off coming along."

"I didn't say it was a bad image..." She teased. 

"What are you doing now? I came straight from the library so I'm starving." Lucy said. 

"You could come straight from Pizza Hut and be starving." Colin joked. 

"Precisely. So I'm obviously not exaggerating." She stuck out her tongue. 

"Come to my dressing room, I have snacks you can have while I get changed. Then we can go eat."

Lori pulled on her jacket. "I'll leave you guys to it."

"You're not coming for something to eat?" Lucy frowned. 

"I don't want to third wheel your night."

"You're not! I'd love you to come along. Tell me all about how awesome I was." Colin joked happily. 

Lori smiled warmly. "Ok. Thanks. I'm just going to pop out and ring Bradley. I promised to let him know how awesome you were. I'll meet you outside when you're ready."

 

Lucy followed Colin to his dressing room and found it wasn't empty when they arrived. 

"Oh...hi Beth...you need something?" Colin seemed uncertain. 

The occupant was a tall, willowy woman with dark hair and bright blue eyes. She was probably a couple of years older than Colin and was sitting on his sofa like she belonged there. 

"Just wanted to say congratulations. That was a hell of a performance." She smiled with her teeth on display. 

"Thank you. Glad the first night is over."

Colin turned slightly and introduced the women. 

"Lucy, this is Beth Parker. She's a production assistant for the show. Beth, my girlfriend Lucy."

Beth stood up and towered over Lucy. 

"Pleasure to meet you Lucy. You must be very proud of our little star here."

For some reason Lucy took an instant dislike to the girl. 

"Very much so." Lucy agreed with a thin smile. 

Colin began to dig through his backpack and pulled out a bag of peanuts and raisins. 

"That should keep you going." He winked. 

Lucy flashed him a grin and opened the packet. "Don't know how I'd survive without you."

"Oh I'm sure there's a lot of girls out there with that concern." Beth drawled with a lazy smirk. 

Colin glanced at the floor uncomfortably but Lucy just laughed airily. 

"I expect there is."

"Well I'll leave you two love birds alone. See you later Colin."

"Bye Beth."

When the door clicked shut behind her Colin and Lucy just gazed at each other silently for a moment. 

"Well she seems nice." Lucy finally spoke. 

Colin flushed red. "She's a bit intense."

"She's just got a thing for you." Lucy smiled.  

Colin's blush deepened. "No..."

"Yes love. I totally get it. I do too."

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her tenderly. "You seem absolutely fine with someone having a thing for your boyfriend."

She stroked his face. "Why wouldn't I be fine? I trust you. If you ever decided you wanted someone else I know you wouldn't do anything about it before breaking it off with me first."

His eyes widened. "Break it off? With you? Are you mad?"

"Just realistic. But I know you have morals and you wouldn't cheat on me."

"Never." He agreed. "I'm never going to want anyone else either."

Lucy waved her hand airily. "Then we have nothing to worry about."

With another kiss they headed out to meet Lori, who had finished talking to Bradley and was chatting to one of Colin's co-stars. 

"Hi Joe." Colin greeted. 

"Hey Colin. Lori was just telling me she was waiting for you so I was keeping her company." Joe grinned. 

"Joe...this is my girlfriend Lucy. Luce, this is Joe Markham."

Lucy smiled warmly. "Hello Joe. That was a great performance."

"Thank you. Fluffed a couple of my lines early on but I eased into it. You guys heading out?"

They all nodded and headed to the door. 

"We're going for something to eat if you want to come along. Just around the corner." Colin offered his friend. 

"You sure? Don't want to intrude."

Lori scoffed. "Please. Save me from three wheeling."

Joe chuckled. "Sure."

 

Fiddies was a tiny Italian restaurant near Swiss Cottage station that Colin had discovered at the start of rehearsals. The owner was a jovial man in his late fifties and always greeted Colin like a long lost son. 

"Allo Colin! How's it going son?"

"First night done. We can relax now. How's Celia?" Colin asked after his wife. 

"Perfection. As always. Now how many have we got tonight?" He glanced at the group. 

"Just us four please Neo."

"No problem. So which is your lovely lady?"

Colin grasped Lucy's hand. "This is my girlfriend Lucy."

Neo took her spare hand and raised it to his lips. "A pleasure. You've got a good man here Lucy. A very good man."

She giggled. "I know."

Neo turned to Joe and Lori. "And a handsome couple you make too."

Lori chuckled. "Oh we're not a couple. We just met ten minutes ago."

Neo laughed too. "The night is young."

"Not sure my boyfriend would be as keen on that sentiment but we'll see." Lori joked. 

They settled at the table and ordered drinks. 

Joe quickly discovered that Lori's boyfriend was Bradley. 

"So...you two are best mates..." Joe gestured to Lucy and Lori. 

"Yes." They both confirmed. 

"And you're seeing Colin and Bradley, who are best mates..."

"Yes."

"And Bradley is your brother?" He asked Lucy. 

"Yes." She confirmed. She broke into a grin. "Not weird at all eh?"

Joe tipped his head back and laughed. "Not at all."

 

"Hey bro." Lucy greeted Bradley when he answered his phone for their regular check in. 

"Thanks Luce. How're you doing?"

"Great! I miss being home, obviously, but the placement is brilliant. And I love living in Newcastle." She replied with enthusiasm she didn't really feel. 

She hadn't seen Colin since the morning after the first night of his play, which was a long time and it didn't help Lucy's emotional state when she saw photos on the internet of Colin out with his cast mates, including the sultry Beth. She seemed to be hanging off Colin's every word in all of the photos. It made her feel sick but she was far too mature to allow herself to freak out, especially in front of Colin. He'd done nothing to suggest he was anything less than 100% devoted so she wasn't going to reward that with a fight about nothing. 

"What's wrong?" Bradley asked softly, cutting to the chase. 

"Nothing..."

"Lucy."

"It's really nothing. I just miss Colin. I've never been on this side of the fence before. It's usually him busy working away and I just get on with my life, but now I'm away working and he's living his life. It's weird."

"I get that. But this is only temporary." Bradley soothed. 

"It's another year."

"You've done long distance for the whole time. You've been with Colin for a long time now. You'll weather the storm."

Lucy sighed heavily. "I suppose so. What makes it worse is there's a production assistant there and she really wants Colin. Every time I see pictures of him she's always there. It's not even like she's being subtle."

"Remember the last time I accused Colin of cheating on you?" Bradley chuckled. 

"I do." Lucy laughed too. 

"I think we all learned lessons that day. Luce, you know he's so utterly in love with you. He's probably not even aware she's in the same county as him!"

"I know." Lucy agreed. "I just really, really miss him. He's the other half of me."

"Fucking hell Lucy. I wish you'd just get married already. I've never known any couple like you before." Bradley huffed loudly. 

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when I first found out about you guys and I was fucking livid?"

"Eeh no. Were you?" Lucy joked. 

"Ha ha. I was worried you were just fucking around and you'd end up ruining the best friendship I've ever had."

"Yeah. Got that vibe." 

"Well now I know how wrong I was. You two...the bond you have...I understand now."

Lucy sighed softly. "Yeah. He means the world to me."

"Colin told me back then that there was nothing anyone could've said or done, not even a parade of stampeding bulls could've kept you away from each other. I thought he was full of shit. But he wasn't. He was absolutely telling the truth and that hasn't changed. He loves you Luce. And this trampy assistant will figure it out eventually."

Lucy sniffled. "Thanks Brad."

"Anytime. So...tell me about your placement."

 

Colin was having a beer with a couple of his cast mates at the bar nearest to the theatre. It was late and he knew Lucy would already be in bed so instead of calling he just sent her a text. Now he was huddled into a booth in the bar with Joe, Mike and Grace as they drank bottles of beer and chatted about work. 

"Hi guys." A voice bit into their conversation. 

Colin glanced up and saw Beth. He smiled thinly. 

"Hello Beth."

"Mind if I join you?" She asked, already sliding into the space near Colin and pressing herself against his side. He tried to shuffle away but the table leg was fixed to the floor and stopping his escape. 

"How's it going?" She asked sweetly. 

"Great. Ready for the last night tomorrow."

"What are your plans for after?"

"Back to Merlin. Everyone is already started so I've got a couple of days of catching up to do." Colin smiled. 

"No Lucy tonight?"

"No. She's working in Newcastle for a year. Her uni placement." Colin told her with a wistful smile. 

Beth squeezed his arm. "That's too bad."

Colin shrugged, trying to casually dislodge her grip. "We've done long distance since day one. It's fine."

"You must really love her."

His gaze narrowed slightly. Was this a test?

"More than life itself." He stated simply. 

"Colin!" A bright and cheerful voice boomed. 

Colin's face lit up. "Hey!"

He excused himself out of the booth, to Beth's surprise and dismay, and hugged a tall blonde tightly. 

"You alright? Look ready for a rescue." Amelia murmured in his ear before pecking his cheek and pulling away. 

"I was! It's so good to see you!"

Amelia leaned against his firm body and sipped her wine. "I came to the show."

"Really? Why didn't you say? I wouldn't sorted out hospitality tickets for you."

She giggled. "I'm not bothered about that stuff. I just wanted to see it. You were brilliant by the way."

He slipped his arm around her shoulder and held her close, his lips brushing her forehead. "Thank you."

"So who is Miss Subtle over there?"

"Production assistant. She's not getting the hint."

"She know about Luce?"

"Knows about her and has met her. Doesn't seem to register." Colin sighed. 

Amelia chuckled. "Don't look so sad. It's a tough life being so irresistible."

Colin laughed happily. "I'm so glad I bumped into you!"

"Me too. I need to go though, I've already missed my bus. And I haven't eaten all day so this wine is going to my head."

"Come with me back to mine. Lori made a lasagne for me and there's plenty to share. You can stay the night if you want." He offered. 

"Does my sister know you invite girls back to your house?" Amelia teased. 

"Only the ones she's related to." Colin joked. 

 

The group had another drink, when they eventually moved on Colin and Amelia called it a night, heading for the last train home. They hadn't introduced Amelia to Beth so she was quite put out that Colin was all over this girl. When they went home together it was a kick in the teeth. 

Amelia ate the veggie lasagne and drank a bottle of water. 

"That was amazing. Lori is a good cook."

"She is. She looks after me, especially with Lucy being away. Bradley's a lucky guy."

"Where is she tonight?"

"In Cardiff with Bradley. The first couple of weeks is usually an easier schedule so they can spend some time together before it gets crazy."

They stayed up chatting for a couple more hours before Amelia crawled into Lori's bed and fell asleep. 

 

The last night of the play was upon them and Colin was ready for it to be done so he could head to Wales and meet up with his best mates. Beth was being bitchy, particularly with Colin, and it was not a smooth rehearsal. 

Joe glanced at Colin. "What did you do to upset her?"

"I dunno." Colin shrugged. 

Grace leaned closer and dropped her voice to a whisper. "Going home with that hot blonde last night might've done something."

Colin's jaw dropped. "What?"

"After you left she was acting all indignant about how you were supposed to be in a committed relationship but there you were going home with some random like it was so normal. She was just put out that you didn't take her home." Grace confided. 

Colin started to laugh loudly. "She's taking the moral high ground because I'm not interested? Wow. That's mature."

"So who was she? Not that we're judging...but you and Lucy seemed pretty solid. Didn't think you'd trawl for a lookalike while she was away." Grace smirked. 

"Why do people insist on thinking I would cheat on my girlfriend?" Colin laughed incredulously. "I would never do that."

"So who was the hot blonde?"

"Amelia James. Lucy's sister." Colin replied with rolled eyes. "And I didn't cheat with my girlfriend's sister."

Grace and Joe burst into laughter. 

"I should hope not." Grace replied. 

"Nobody seems to think it's an issue that I currently live with Lori. Just the two of us." Colin mused aloud. 

"What? Who? You live with a girl?" Grace frowned. 

Joe grinned. "You live with Lori?"

"You know Lori? Who is Lori?" Grace asked Joe. 

"Lori is Lucy's best friend. And she's also Bradley's girlfriend. When Lucy and Lori needed to find accommodation for uni my flat was empty so they moved in there. I just stay when I'm working in London. But now Lucy is in Newcastle it's just me and Lori."

Joe chuckled to himself. "You're just tripping over hotties."

Colin blushed a little. "She's great. Really looks after me. I think she understands how much I miss Luce."

 

"Break a leg." Lucy's text read. 

Colin smiled and typed a reply of thanks. They'd spoken at length earlier in the day and now Colin was ready to go on stage for the last time in this run. A tap at the door made him look up and his smile faltered when he saw Beth in his doorway. 

"Hi Beth."

She stalked in and closed the door behind her. Colin's skin prickled with apprehension and without giving much thought he dialled the last number in his contact list before resting his phone on the dressing table. 

"We need to talk." She stated. 

"About what? Everything ok with the show?"

"It's got nothing to do with the show. I want to know where you get off preaching about how perfect your relationship is but then you go home with random girls you meet in bars when your girlfriend is away..." Beth snarled. 

Colin huffed and shook his head. "That's not what happened. And even if it was I really don't see what it's got to do with you."

"Are you telling me you didn't meet a girl in a bar last night? And that you didn't disappear with her when you left?" Beth smirked. 

Colin shrugged. "Why do you care? You don't know my girlfriend. Why does it matter?"

"I just can't stand people who take the moral high ground when they're actually completely morally bankrupt Colin! I made it very clear I was interested in you but you go home with that slag instead?" Beth seethed. 

"Hey! Don't call her that. You don't know anything about it." Colin snapped. 

Beth took a deep breath. "I'll give you another chance to reconsider. I could be very good for your career."

Colin burst into shocked laughter. "You what?"

"One night with me and you'll see how beneficial our friendship could be." Beth grinned. 

"And if I say no. Again."

"Then your pretty little love bird will hear all the gory details about what you get up to when she's miles from home."

Colin couldn't hold back his laughter. "Are you fucking serious? Beth, I would genuinely rather never work again than sleep with you. I really mean that. You can blackmail me all you like but it won't change anything. Especially when Lucy knows I bumped into her sister last night, and she slept in my spare room since we chatted so much she missed her bus. And strangely enough, she was fine with it. I'm not sure what kind of relationship you think we have but we've handled more shit than you could ever throw at us. Now get the fuck out of my dressing room before I call Brian and let him know what you're trying to do here."

Beth looked startled and unable to form a sentence. She darted out of the room and Colin picked up his phone. With a deep sigh he spoke into the phone. 

"Hey Bradley. Please tell me you heard all that."

"Colin. You have some very strange friends." Bradley's clipped voice replied. 

Colin laughed in relief. "She's not my friend."

Bradley sighed. "Bloody hell Cols."

"I need to get out of here and get back to Cardiff."

"Soon. Very soon. I've missed you mate."

"Missed you too."

"Go on...go out there and smash your last night. Don't let that freak ruin it. You've done amazing things there." Bradley encouraged. 

"Thank you."


	12. A Trip Up North

_ November 2010 _

 

The snow fell heavily in Newcastle as Lucy gazed out of the window of her tenth floor office. It overlooked the River Tyne and had lovely views across to Gateshead. It was nearly 7 on the last Friday of the month so Lucy had stayed behind to finish up the month end filing. A few people were still dotted around the office, including a couple of people she'd become friendly with over the last few weeks. 

"Up to much this weekend Lucy?" Claire called across the room. 

"Nope. No plans at all." Lucy sighed. 

"Missing home?"

"Not home as such. More the people. My boyfriend, my friends, I even miss my brother. That's how low I've sunk." Lucy joked. 

"You should come for a drink with us after here. We're just going to the Pitcher." Mae offered, her pretty almond eyes crinkling as she smiled. 

"Really?"

"Sure! You can tell us all about yourself."

Lucy laughed. "Nothing much to tell."

 

An hour later Lucy was finishing her first large rose wine and chatting happily with Claire, Mae and Ryan. They were all older than Lucy but hadn't worked at the insurance firm for long. Ryan was the first friend she'd made on the day she started and she was grateful to him for being so kind to her. 

"So how long have you been seeing your boyfriend Lucy?" Mae asked, trying to get to know the new girl. 

Lucy smiled warmly at the thought of Colin. 

"Uhh...two years."

"That's a long time for someone young like you. Is he the same age?"

"No. Colin's older. He's 24."

"How did you meet him?"

"He's my brother's best mate. They work together and I met them when I visited Bradley."

"Cool. What do they do?" Claire chipped in. 

"They're actors." Lucy confessed, aware that she was revealing more than she normally did to people she hardly knew. 

Ryan's eyebrows rose. "Anyone we'd know?"

Lucy smiled at his interest. "Maybe. You ever seen Merlin?"

Claire gasped. "I love that show! I love the bromance! I totally want Arthur to bin Gwen and start shagging Merlin!"

Lucy screwed up her face. "Eew eww eww stop! I can't have those mental images."

"No way! Your boyfriend is Merlin?"

"Yes." Lucy confirmed. "And Bradley is my brother. So please never say those words to me again!"

Claire clapped her hands with excitement. "That's so cool! What are they like?"

Lucy chuckled softly. "Just...you know..."

Her phone began to ring as it rested on the table in front of them and Claire squeaked when she saw the screensaver. It was a picture of Colin, lying in bed with his hair all messed up and a sleepy smile on his face. 

"He's pretty hot right?" Mae smirked. 

Lucy giggled and picked up the phone. 

"Hi love. How are you?" She greeted. 

"Cold, wet, hungry, tired and horny. You?"

Her soft giggle turned into loud laughter. 

"Wow. Glad I asked! I'm definitely one of those things..." 

"Hmm...I hope it's the one I can't help with right now."

"You'd wish that on me?" She huffed. 

"If I'm suffering then so are you."

"Fair enough. Skype later?"

"Yes! You busy now?"

"Just having a drink with a few work friends. What are you up to?"

"Waiting for Angel to finish getting ready then we're going to see Bradley do his stunts in the forest. Should be good."

"Sounds wild. You have a good day filming?"

"Not bad. I was with Richard most of the day. He was asking after you actually. Wants to see you again when you're next visiting."

"Sure that can be arranged. I miss you guys."

Colin paused for a second. "God I miss you."

Lucy exhaled softly. "Only two more weeks."

"Feels like forever."

"I know. Skype me later ok?"

"11pm. As always. Go on, get back to your friends. I love you."

"I love you too."

She hung up and found Claire, Mae and Ryan gazing at her in silence. 

"What?"

"You're so cute!" Mae replied. 

"Really?" Lucy frowned. 

"Your face when you were talking...so sweet." Claire agreed. 

"Jesus. What a sap." Lucy giggled. 

"Let me see that photo again." Mae demanded and leaned closer. 

Lucy grinned and found the photo in her folder. Mae swooned theatrically. 

"He's so hot!"

She swiped right and one of Colin and Bradley appeared. It was a selfie Bradley had taken the night of the Death Cab for Cutie gig where they both looked pissed and giddy. 

"Nice." Claire nodded. "Your brother is fit. Does he have a girlfriend?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah. My best mate from uni, Lori. They've been together for about a year."

"Keeping it in the family." Mae giggled. 

Lucy smiled. "Seems that way."

 

December 2010

 

Lucy woke up on December 15th with a vicious headache and a sick feeling in her stomach. 

"Ugh."

"Morning sunshine."

She struggled to open her eyes and the light nearly blinded her. 

"Ryan? Where am I?"

"My bed." Ryan smirked. "You don't remember?"

Lucy's stomach flipped. "Not a thing. Did I make a tit of myself?"

"You got hammered pet. You were hilarious. By the end of the night you could hardly walk so I brought you here so I could keep an eye on you."

"Thank you. I really hope I didn't ruin your night."

"Not at all. Although you might want to check in with your boyfriend. He rang last night but you weren't making much sense."

"Oh fucking hell." She groaned. "Give me a minute and I'll get out of your way."

"No rush." Ryan winked. "Take your time and I'll make some coffee. Help yourself to a shower. I'll get Maxi to drop you home when he gets back from the shop."

Lucy beamed at the mention of Ryan's husband Max. He was a gorgeous man with a beautiful temperament. While Ryan was hyper at times, Max would mellow him out. 

"Thank you so much."

 

Colin was livid when Lucy rang him from Ryan's spare bedroom. 

"Where the fuck have you been? I've been so worried!"

"Calm down Colin. I'm fine. I stayed at a friend's house."

"A friend? Which friend? You've only been there a few weeks...how friendly can you get with someone that you stay over after getting pissed on a night out? Lucy, I've been out of my mind!" Colin ranted. 

Lucy's hackles were up immediately. "Excuse me...who do you think you're talking to? I haven't done anything wrong. I went on my Christmas night out, got hammered and went back to a friend's house. Hardly crime of the century!" She snapped. 

"You're so naive! Didn't you think I'd be worried about you? You're old enough to know better."

"What's my age got to do with anything Colin? Surely you went out and partied when you were 20? Oh actually probably not. This is you we're talking about!" She yelled. 

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Look. This is crazy. I was just having fun with my friends. Ryan took care of me and I'm fine." 

"Ryan? Your friend is a bloke?" Colin sounded ice cold. 

"Yeah. So?"

"So anything could've happened! And you were so paralytic you wouldn't be able to stop it! This is exactly what I worry about!"

"Oh my God. I can't believe you just said that. Ryan would never hurt me. He's been a rock to me since I've been here. He's taken me under his wing, taught me everything I needed to know and welcomed me into his home and his social life. For you to suggest I would put myself in a dangerous situation like that is so insulting Colin!"

"Welcomed you into his home? I bet he fucking did!" Colin snarled. 

Lucy huffed loudly. "Yes. He did. And so did his husband Max."

"Oh. Lucy..."

"Stop Colin. I'm not interested. I didn't realise you thought so little of me. But now I do know."

"It's not that..."

"Either I'm a drunken idiot with no concern for my own safety, or I'm shagging my work colleague or both. You're being absolutely ridiculous. I was so looking forward to this weekend. I haven't seen you for so long. But now...I don't even want to look at you."

Colin sighed. "Lucy..."

"Forget it Colin. Save yourself a wasted journey. I'm not coming to London tomorrow. I'm staying here with my friends." She told him abruptly. 

"You can't do that!"

"I can and I am. There's no way I'm listening to you talk to me like that. I may be younger but I'm not a child. Bye Colin."

She hung up the phone and launched it across the room and into her bag. 

 

Bradley was bewildered when Colin explained his issue. 

"Col...you go mental with people thinking you're carrying on behind Lucy's back. Why would you think the worst of her?"

"I don't know, do I?! I wasn't thinking properly! I was just so worried about her!"

"Calm down. She's got a temper but she will come around. Once you see her it'll be fine and you can apologise."

"I'm not seeing her. She's not going home anymore. She's staying in Newcastle because she can't bear to look at me."

"Oh fucking hell Colin." Bradley groaned. "You know how stubborn she is!"

"I know! I was just so worried about her...it took over every rational thought in my mind!"

"She's not a stupid kid Colin. She's looked out for herself for a long time. She's looked out for you! You should've trusted her judgement."

"I can't believe these words are even coming out of your mouth Bradley James! You are the most overprotective person in the fucking universe when it comes to Luce and Amelia!" Colin yelled. 

"I know. I was. But you made me see how independent and capable Lucy is. I misjudged her and you showed me the truth." Bradley agreed calmly. "Now you've done exactly what I would've done."

Colin sighed heavily. "What do I do Bradley? I can't go any longer without seeing her."

"So see her. You know where she is."

"Go to Newcastle?"

"I thought you were the brains of our operation Cols..."

Colin gulped. "She doesn't want to see me."

"She's angry and stubborn. She needs to see you as much as you need to see her."

"Ok. I can do this." Colin steeled himself. 

 

"You look like you need this." Ryan placed the coffee cup on Lucy's desk. 

She looked up with tired eyes and smiled weakly. "Thanks."

"Tough night?"

"Gladstone Carrington called at 3am. One of their tankers has crashed into a jetty in Singapore. I've been working on it since then." She explained. 

"You should've gone to London while you had the chance. David would be doing his right now instead of you."

Instead of moping around her rented flat Lucy had opted to be on call and do some work while she sulked. Unfortunately it coincided with a tanker crashing in a completely different time zone. 

"I'm fine here. It's great experience. And I'm nearly done. I've got some assessors heading to the site from Jakarta and there's no clean up required."

"Really?" Ryan grinned. "That's awesome!"

"Yeah. Helps that the chief engineer had his head screwed on and disengaged the fuel tank before they hit. And the cargo was secured so it didn't cause any problems."

"Great job Luce! All with a killer hangover too."

"I'm feeling much better. Between your mugs of treacle that masquerade as coffee and Maxi's Nutella pancakes I feel right as rain." She smiled warmly. 

"Glad to hear it." Ryan ruffled her hair and headed to his desk. 

Lucy took some more calls and drank her coffee. Her stomach rumbling made her look up and she gasped when she saw it was 4pm. She'd been working for 11 hours. The smell of spicy food wafted down the hall and she groaned. 

"Ry? I need food. Someone is eating burritos and I'm having food envy." She called out. 

Ryan chuckled from his office. "I've never known anyone so small eat as much as you do. Maxi was in awe of the pizza you put away last night. You could take up competitive eating!"

"Colin tells me that all the time." She laughed. 

"It's very true though."

Lucy's head shot up when she heard the soft Irish lilt. 

"Colin?" She shrieked. 

He smiled shyly, his eyes sparkling. "Hey."

Ryan appeared in the doorway behind Colin, who shifted to greet him. 

"Hello. I'm Colin."

Ryan shook his hand. "Ryan. Pleasure to meet you."

Lucy could only gape in shock. 

"Hi Ryan. It's great to finally meet you. Lucy has told me some great things about you."

"And you." Ryan replied. "I'll leave you guys to it."

He left and Colin placed a bag on the desk with Zapatista written on the side. 

"Butternut squash and halloumi burrito with extra hot sauce." He smiled with a shy tilt of his head. 

"What are you doing here Colin?" She groused. 

"Apologising from the bottom of my heart. I said some terrible things. It came from a good place, I was genuinely worried about you, but I shouldn't have said them. I should've trusted your judgement. I'm very sorry." He spoke softly. 

Lucy nodded once. "Ok."

"You forgive me?" Colin sounded hopeful but Lucy's mobile ringing halted any further discussions. 

"I have to take this." She stated and connected the call. "Hello Mr Saranganathan. Lucy Raven speaking. You too. Yes. The assessor is on the flight from Jakarta as we speak. You can liaise with my colleague David Morley from 1am your time. He's taking over from me. Yes. I know! I won't let him claim any credit. Ha! Thank you. This has been a great learning experience for me. I appreciate that. Yes. Just email a copy of the claim form and I'll review it whenever it is ready. We can take it from there. No problem. You too. Thanks Mr Saranganathan. Speak soon. Bye."

Colin could only stare at his other half as she masterfully communicated with a client somewhere at least 8 hours ahead of them. She was fantastic. His cock thickened as he realised he was turned on by seeing her working in what looked to be her dream job. 

"You ok Cols?" Lucy broke into his reverie. 

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and smiled. "You're amazing. You know that? Amazing."

"What?" She frowned. 

"The way you work. It's amazing."

"You even know what I'm working on?"

"Nope. But you're awesome at it."

"Tanker crashed into a Singapore jetty at 3am our time. Low speed and not much damage." She explained. 

"You've been working since 3am?"

"Yes. It helped channel my rage."

Colin sighed as he stood and moved closer to Lucy, perching on the edge of her desk and cupping her face tenderly. 

"I'm so sorry Lucy."

She smiled softly. "I know. But you really pissed me off. You were there when Bradley used to treat me like a kid and you know how much I hated it. Now you've done the same thing, when I thought you understood me."

"I understand you. It's myself I don't understand. I've never felt like this before. Never loved anyone the way I love you. The thought of anything happening to you...it just freaks me out. I'm not sure I'd manage without you." He admitted quietly. 

"I'm not going anywhere Colin. But I'm going through the same thing with you that I did with Bradley. He's sorted it out now but I'm not prepared to wait nearly 20 years for you to do the same."

Colin chuckled. "I know. From now on if you say you're safe I believe you."

"And no implying my friends are trying to get into my knickers. Gay or otherwise."

He saluted. "Absolutely."

"Then I think we're ok. I'm on call for another hour. What's the betting the phone rings as soon as I stuff this burrito into my mouth?"

"Oh very likely." Colin grinned and reached for Lucy's hand. She was pulled to her feet and into the space between Colin's knees. He looped her hands around his neck and leaned his forehead against hers. 

"I love you so much." He whispered. 

She stroked the back of his neck. "I love you too."

He lifted her face with a finger under her chin. "Kiss me."

Lucy pressed her lips to his and they kissed slowly and tenderly for a couple of minutes. Finally Colin pulled back. 

"I need to stop. Things are happening downstairs that I can't control."

Lucy smirked and palmed his raging erection firmly, eliciting a groan from Colin. She stepped around him and closed the office door, clicking the lock into place. He stood up and turned to face her, eyebrows rising to his hairline. 

"Is this a good idea?" He smirked. 

She shrugged, reaching up and under her skirt to pull down her thick black tights and knickers. With a firm tug they were released from her feet and Lucy hopped onto the desk where Colin previously sat. 

"My phone might ring and my burrito is getting cold but if I don't feel your tongue on my clit right now I think I might explode. And not in a good way."

Colin beamed as he moved back around the desk and sat in Lucy's chair, arranging them so her feet were planted on the arms of the chair and her legs spread wide enough for him to fit in. 

"Jesus fuck I've missed this." He mumbled before his tongue licked a stripe through her centre. She groaned, careful of volume control, and grasped his hair in her hand. 

"Fuck Colin that's amazing. Please. Eat me."

Colin got to work, fishing his throbbing cock out of his jeans to relieve some pressure. His tongue moved wickedly through her folds and lashed at her clit while his finger pushed in and out of her. 

After what felt like only a minute Lucy was shuddering. 

"I'm going to come...so close..." She gasped. "Stick it in me while I'm coming."

They'd done that before so Colin knew exactly what she meant. He quickened his pace and licked her expertly. Within seconds Lucy began to shudder and opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. She fell apart with Colin's tongue relentlessly pressing into her. Then he was on his feet and pushing his rock solid erection into her core, the rough fabric of his jeans scratching against her thighs. 

"Oh Jesus Colin..." She gasped, clutching his arms as he pounded into her. 

"I'm so close Lucy. I'm gonna come..." He bit  out. 

Lucy's second orgasm was triggered by the feeling of Colin coming hard inside her. His hot release lashing her walls made her fall over the edge once again. They held each other tightly as the aftershocks subsided. 

"We should fight more often if that's how we make up..." Lucy mumbled into Colin's neck. 

He brushed his lips over her cheekbone. "I hate it when we fight."

They regained some composure and rearranged their clothes. 

"Come on...I need to hand over to David then we can get out of here." She picked up some files and her phone, leading Colin into the main office. 

Ryan smirked as they approached. 

"Finished making friends?"

Colin laughed. "I think we came to a mutual understanding."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "You're such boys! Can you look after him while I brief David?" She asked Ryan. 

"Sure. Come with me Colin. I'll get you a coffee or something."

 

That evening found the newly reunited couple having a quiet dinner at a Lebanese restaurant tucked away on a side street in Newcastle with Ryan and Max. Colin had quickly grown to like Ryan and happily accepted the offer of dinner. Meeting Max was fun too, and he saw immediately how the quirky couple were well matched. They chatted about his work, how him and Lucy started dating and how well she was making a go of her placement. Colin was so proud of his other half. 

"I'm glad you made up." Max winked. 

Ryan rolled his eyes. "You wanna be glad you didn't have to hear them making up..."

"Hey! We were quiet!" Lucy smirked. 

"Quiet? You've just redefined that word." Ryan retorted. 

Max coughed and laughed loudly. "You shagged at work?"

"No comment." Colin replied, his ears going red. 

"Ryan...you need to visit me at work next time we fight..." Max grinned. 

Ryan looked horrified. "You teach six year olds! I'll never see the light of day again!"

The group dissolved into giggles and Colin squeezed Lucy's hand under the table. She gave him a dazzling smile and everything was right in his world again. 

 


	13. Christmas

"Do you remember last Christmas Day?" Colin mumbled into the skin behind Lucy's ear as he stood behind her at the kitchen stove in her mother's house. 

Lucy stirred the gravy and let her mind wander back exactly one year. She started to giggle. 

"I assume you're not referring to the nut roast I so lovingly prepared?"

His teeth grazed her neck. "Nope." 

"Don't be too hopeful of a repeat performance love. Not in my mother's house." 

Amelia and Bradley chose that moment to walk into the kitchen. 

"Bloody hell can't you keep your hands off each other for a moment?" Bradley joked. 

"We spend enough time apart thank you." Lucy retorted. 

"What are you hoping for a repeat performance of Colin?" Amelia smirked wickedly. 

Colin just grinned and Lucy shook her head. 

"Nope. Not going there." She stated. 

"Not what you said last Christmas..." Colin mumbled quietly until she elbowed his ribs. 

"Out of my kitchen Morgan." Lucy pointed to the door. 

Colin just laughed and bit down on her neck before moving away to sit on a chair across the room. 

"You two are adorable." Amelia smirked and grabbed some Buck's Fizz out of the fridge. 

"You would not be saying that if you knew what he was asking me to do..." Lucy muttered, just as her mother bustled into the room to check on dinner. 

"Oh really?" Janet smirked, looking exactly like her eldest daughter. "What's that then?"

Colin blushed furiously and Lucy just shook her head. 

"Not doing this." She snipped. 

Janet giggled happily and sipped some fruity booze. "Ok...how's the gravy?"

"Wet and hot. I think it's ready." 

Bradley met Amelia's eyes and they both burst into gales of laughter. 

"Honestly. You two are such pervs."

 

With everyone in a food coma and sprawled over every surface in Janet's lounge Bradley smiled. Lori was dozing against his chest and he stroked her hair. 

"I love you." He whispered in her ear. 

It was the first time he'd spoken those words to her. Their relationship had built up slowly and they didn't put any pressure on each other. With Bradley working away so much and Lori busy with her last year at university it wasn't a surprise that they'd kept things slightly at arms length. But now he was sure he loved the bright, beautiful girl in his arms. 

Lori snuffled quietly. "Love you too."

 

"What are you doing for your birthday Cols?" Amelia asked on Boxing Day as he and Lucy prepared to leave Devon for their flight to Belfast to visit the Morgans. 

"As little as possible. I don't have to be in Cardiff until the 5th so I'm planning to chill out."

Lucy pouted. "I'm back in Newcastle on the 3rd..."

Colin sighed heavily like he was conceding the world to her. "I suppose I could go with you for a few days..."

Lucy's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Twisted my arm." He grinned. 

Lucy clapped her hands excitedly. "Brilliant!"

"Come on...our flight won't wait for us." He kissed her forehead. 

With goodbyes to everyone and thanks to Janet for the Christmas feast they headed to Armagh for New Year. 

 

January 2011

 

"Ssh! We need to be quiet!" Lucy pressed her finger to Colin's lips to silence his deep moan. 

"I can't be quiet when you're bouncing on my cock!" He hissed, perching perilously on the edge of the bath with Lucy straddling him. 

Lucy rolled her hips and felt his every inch filling her. "You prefer when I slow it down?"

"I need to come so bad."

"Me too...this isn't the best place to fuck is it?"

Colin glanced around and stifled a giggle. "I don't see the issue..."

Lucy smirked and clenched her muscles around his length. "I can't believe we're shagging in a bathroom at your brother's house party!"

"You wanted to bring in my birthday in style." Colin grinned and gripped her hips in his large hands. 

Lucy jumped up and scrambled away from him. 

"I was enjoying that...!" Colin glared. 

"Fuck me from behind...I need to come hard." She instructed as she leaned on the sink. 

"I think I just came already."

She grasped his solid erection and pushed back into him so she was filled, exhaling quietly at the sensation. 

"Oh yeah." Colin acquiesced and pounded into her with pace and vigour. He reached around and rubbed her clit and within seconds she was spiralling out of control. 

"Yes Colin...yes...oh!"

Just as they both fell over the edge there was a loud pounding on the door and Neil's voice could be heard clearly. 

"Come on you dirty buggers. There's a queue out here!"

They fixed their dishevelled clothes and opened the door to reveal the elder Morgan brother with a huge grin on his face. 

"Sorry...had something in my eye..." Lucy smirked, not remotely bothered by Neil catching them. 

"Sure Colin helped you get it off...I mean out..."

Lucy giggled and Colin blushed, both of them looking behind Neil when a cough alerted their attention. 

Carrie, the girl from the pub and Neil's girlfriend from their teen years, was staring at them in dismay. Neil noticed and snorted a laugh. 

"Remembering a time when Colin would die of embarrassment if he was caught shagging in a bathroom?"

Carrie nodded dumbly. 

"Those days are long gone." Neil added and ruffled Colin's shaggy hair. 

"Alright. It's not like you've never done it." Colin muttered. 

"I just never got caught."

"You didn't catch us." Lucy argued. "We could've staged the whole thing...just made you think that's what we were doing..."

Neil smirked. "You have a very convincing orgasm noise."

"You know what one of those sounds like?" Lucy flashed a grin and Neil burst into laughter before pulling Lucy into a hug. 

"I fucking love you Lucy James."

"Love you too, my second favourite Morgan brother." She kissed his cheek. 

Carrie left with an indignant huff and Lucy frowned. "Something I said?"

"Yes actually. Something along the lines of 'yes! Colin! Harder!' I think." Neil joked. 

"So she does fancy him?" She looked pleased with herself, as Colin flushed. 

"Just a bit." Neil winked. "It's ok though, she's more than aware that Colin isn't interested. I think it was his 'I can't be quiet with you bouncing on my cock' that did it."

"Bloody hell Neil, how long were you perving at the door? You should invest in sound proofing!" Lucy giggled, completely unfazed. 

"Can we not? Please? I beg you." Colin spoke for the first time. 

"Happy birthday little brother." Neil smiled brightly. 

"Thanks."

"25 eh? I remember being 25...it was a good year..." Neil smiled. 

"For reasons we probably don't want to know about." Colin added. 

"Very likely. Come on...I'll get you a drink to toast your quarter century."

 

"Where's Lucy?" Colin asked at 5am when the party was almost over. 

"Christmas tree." Neil slurred. 

"Huh?"

"Yep."

Colin wandered over to the Christmas tree in the corner of Neil's living room and found his girlfriend lying on her back with her head under the branches, fast asleep. Colin crawled in beside her and kissed her nose. 

"I hope that's you Cols." She murmured. 

"You know anyone else that'd follow you under a tree?" He chuckled. 

Lucy curled into him and sighed deeply. "I love you so much Cols."

He kissed her forehead. "Love you too crazy daisy."

"Can we get married this year please?" Lucy asked with a soft, faraway tone to her voice. 

Colin was struck dumb. 

"It's ok if you don't want to. I just thought it'd be nice. You know. Me and you. Forever and ever." She mumbled. 

Colin took her hand. "I'd love that."

"Ok then. Ask me whenever you like. I'm ready." She yawned and started to snore softly. 

"Right then." Colin mused and did not fall asleep. 

 

February 2011

 

"I really like Newcastle." Colin mused as he followed Lucy through the bustling city centre streets. He was visiting for three whole nights and tonight they we're going to the theatre. 

"Me too! If it wasn't so far from everyone I love in the world it would be a perfect place to live." She agreed. 

Colin gripped her hand and followed her into the Theatre Royal. It was four days before Valentine's Day and the idea of a proposal was in the back of his mind but he didn't want to be so cliche. He knew he wanted to marry Lucy more than anything in the world but it also stuck in his mind that she was still only 20 years old. So young. He was putting it to the depths of his mind once again. 

"You ok Cols?" Lucy tilted her head. 

He smiled and nodded. "Course I am, I'm with you."

She giggled and leaned up to kiss him softly. "You're so sweet Morgan, you're giving me a toothache."

They watched the play, a dark comedy starring an up and coming actress that Colin had heard good things about, and then headed for a late dinner at a nearby Indian street food restaurant. They sat huddled together in a tiny booth and shared various vegetarian dishes as they dissected the play in detail. 

"I'd love to do something like that. Really dark but still funny in places." Colin told her. 

She smiled. "You will. You're going to do anything and everything you want."

"God I love you." He grinned. "Marry me."

"Huh?"

"Marry me?"

"I thought that's what you said..." She raised her eyebrows. 

"I love you so much and I want to spend every day with you for the rest of my life. I didn't plan this...it just slipped out...and I don't have a ring...but Luce, will you marry me?"

Her eyes sparkled with a mix of excitement and amusement. "You're not just asking me because of what I said when I was hammered at New Year right? Cause, I mean, you shouldn't take anyone who falls asleep under a Christmas tree completely seriously..."

Colin let out a nervous chuckle. "Luce...that day was just you saying aloud what I've felt for a long time. But if it was just the drink talking and you're not ready that's ok. We can stop this now and think about it later."

"Colin...I want to marry you. Tomorrow, if we could. So my answer is yes."

He gazed at her smiling face, her eyes sparkling brightly and showing no trace of doubt at all. 

"Really?" He murmured in stunned disbelief. 

She nodded, tears filling her blue eyes. "Definitely."

He pulled her into his side and kissed her firmly. She pulled away and cupped his cheek, softly stroking his jaw. 

"I love you." She whispered. 

 

"That one."

Colin followed Lucy's pointing finger and looked at the silver ring with a small pink diamond. 

"You sure?" He tilted his head. "It's very small."

"I don't want anything too flashy. I like that one." She replied. 

"Ok then..."

When the ring on display slid perfectly onto her finger she knew it was the one. Colin grinned at her and nodded. 

"I love it." He told her. 

"I don't know how much it is..."

"Doesn't matter. That's the one." He replied. 

The cashier printed the receipt and Colin produced his credit card. 

"That's £99.00."

Colin turned to Lucy and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Lucy giggled. "I've always been a cheap date Cols."

"I thought that was just a trap to make me marry you. Then you were going to be a very expensive wife." He rolled his eyes. 

"One day I might bleed you dry. But that day is not today." She shrugged. 

The cashier watched their exchange with shocked amusement. Colin paid for the ring and they left the shop. 

"Lunch?" He smiled brightly. 

"Yes please."

"Anything other than burritos yeah?"

Lucy giggled. "Sure. Chinese?"

"Yes!"

 

Bradley and Lori were spending the weekend with her parents in Kent when their phones beeped at the same time. They opened their message and stared at the same photo of Lucy's hand displaying her new ring. 

"Does this 💍 make me look engaged?"

Lori squealed with excitement and Bradley's eyes bugged out. 

"Oh my god!" She gasped. "They got engaged!"

Bradley stared hard at the photo. "They did."

"You're ok with it right?" She checked and he smiled warmly. 

"Sure. He's always been my brother. Now it's real."

"He loves her. He's always loved her." Lori smiled, snuggling into Bradley's arms. 

He kissed the top of her head. "Yeah. They're great together."

"Don't worry...I'm not getting any ideas."

"What do you mean?"

"Just because our best mates are getting married doesn't mean I'm letting my imagination run away with me about us. I know it's not going to happen." She told him casually. 

"Right..." He tried not to sound hurt. 

They snuggled up in silence for a few minutes but Bradley couldn't get it out of his mind. 

"You really don't see a future for us?" He blurted out. 

"Huh?"

"You don't see us settling down together one day? Living together? Getting married?"

"Well...no..."

Bradley pulled away and stared at her. "Why not?"

Lori frowned and shrugged. "It's just...we've never really been like that...it's always been so casual with us..."

He narrowed his eyes. "So you think we're just waiting for a better offer to come along?"

"I don't really think about it at all if I'm honest." She shrugged again. 

The constant shrugging and vagueness was starting to piss Bradley off. 

"I told you I love you." He pointed out. 

She snorted. "You mumbled it once two months ago when you thought I was asleep and never repeated it since. Hardly a declaration of undying love Brad."

"But you heard me!" He huffed. 

"I did...and I believe you do love me..."

"But?"

"But maybe as a really good friend that you spend a lot of time with...and have great sex with..."

"Lori! Are you kidding me? I love you! I'm so completely in love with you!"

She frowned. "Hang on...you see us getting married one day?"

"Yes!" He blurted out loudly. 

Lori was stunned. "Really?"

"Yes! I thought you felt the same!"

"Why would you think that? You've never asked me!"

"I wasn't aware I needed to!"

"Brad...do you consider yourself a good communicator?" She glared at him. 

Bradley's mouth opened and closed without a sound being made. 

"Precisely." Lori huffed. "I don't have any grand designs of a long and happy future together because for the last year you've very carefully avoided all talk of being serious, other than that one slip up at Christmas. I'm happy spending time with you. Not looking for anyone else and not looking for anything more from you. Just having fun."

Bradley stared at her in shock. "Is that all you'll ever want?"

"I don't know. Probably not."

"I love you. I can't believe I was so stupid to let you think otherwise."

Lori smiled softly and cupped his cheek. "I know you love me. I just didn't know you were in love with me."

His gaze softened and he nodded. "Like...head over heels."

"I'm in love with you too." She confessed. 

"Will you move in with me?"

"Yes."

"Just like that? No persuasion required?"

"Nah. Let's do it." She grinned. 

Bradley leaned down and kissed her hard. 

 


End file.
